


New World

by Bulls99



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 62,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bulls99/pseuds/Bulls99
Summary: Following a second devastating defeat to Vanica, Noelle expects to die peacefully - painfully, but peacefully. Instead she wakes up in a world where everything seems upside down. But how much is really different?
Relationships: Asta & Noelle Silva & Yuno, Asta/Noelle Silva, Nebra Silva & Noelle Silva & Nozel Silva & Solid Silva, Noelle Silva & Yuno
Comments: 441
Kudos: 447





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> New story! Noelle is my favourite character by a bit, and I really like reading about the Silva family, so most of my stories will be based around these characters here, hope no one minds. Not too sure what I'll be doing with this, I have a very rough plan, but this has the potential to be quite long, so I'll try and get a schedule going for this, especially if people show some interest!

She had lost. Again.

Failure was something that Noelle was used to feeling through her life, constantly reminded by her less than loving siblings that her failure to control her magic when growing up was a blight on the Silva family, compounded by the fact that her existence had cost them the greatest magic knight the Silva family had produced in generations. It was only her fairly recent joining of the Black Bulls squad that she started to feel as though she was worth something, and she had become a genuinely confident person, believing in her own power, as well as that of her allies.

What she was feeling now though made all of that seem like a distant memory.

Looking through blurry eyes, she could see the continuation of the battle she had lost, her brother’s powerful mercury magic being rapidly overpowered by the combination of blood and curse magic, Vanica seemingly losing interest now it was only Nozel left to offer her any resistance, and had decided to finish off her battle. The faint sounds that she had been hearing from the start of this battle had now also faded, and though she couldn’t be sure, the sinking feeling in her gut had her convinced the rest of the so called ‘elite’ squad had also been unsuccessful in their counter attack on the Dark Triad, the mission to rescue the two missing captains coming up short to say the least. A loud bang above made her focus, though she wished she didn’t, as she let out a pitiful whimper as Nozel fell off of his trademark mercury eagle, Vanica gleefully laughing as her attacks finally breached his defences. 

All she could do was close her eyes as she thought about this monumental disaster. She had failed her mentor and friend, Loropechekia, her captain, Yami, her mother, Acier, and the entire world now that the Dark Triad had gotten their way. They would succeed in opening the gate to the underworld, and the world would end, just as Loropechekia had said. It had all been meaningless, the 6 months of gruelling training in the Heart Kingdom, her first fight with Vanica which had given her the experience and knowledge which she should have used to ensure her defeat, and then the further training with the elves to acquire their ultimate magic. All for nothing.

Closing her eyes, she could hear footsteps walking towards her, before stopping. Keeping her eyes open was increasingly becoming more laborious, but she managed to do so just as the hideous, disfigured face of Vanica and Megicula came into view. She tired her best to glare ate her, but the effect was mostly reduced be her battered and bloody body, not to mention the tears in her eyes.

“Hey, that was pretty fun after all Noelle-chan! I’m surprised you got so much better in just a little time, but I guess you are her daughter after all!” Vanica said, genuinely pleased with the result of her little experiment. Noelle said nothing, just continued to glare defiantly.

“Ohh, I really love that look in your eyes, you know? I wish we could let you get a bit stronger, you still have a long way to go until you were as strong as your mommy was that time, but I guess you and your brother were a pretty good compromise, though he was a bit too boring for me, even though I could tell he was super angry, but he barely even reacted. How boring right?”

“What the hell do you want?” Noelle attempted to say sharply, but the wheezing rasp that came out was barley audible to the Triad member.

“Geez, why so impatient?” Vanica teased, “Anyway, you’re about to die so I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. I actually fought your mom twice. The first time was super boring, she was barely paying any attention, trying to protect all of her deadweight squad, but I could tell she was strong. So, the second time, I made sure she absolutely had to focus on me. It was actually kind of embarrassing you know? Megicula had to bail me out at the last second, with the death curse on your mom. Even then though, I was so beat up I couldn’t defeat her at the time, so I was really looking forward to our rematch. Though, I never was able to see her again, since we were pretty busy taking over the spade kingdom and all.” Vanica finished with a grin. Noelle couldn’t wrap her head around how such a vile person could be so friendly and seemingly genuinely affectionate to her, even when discussing how she had killed her mother, and casually mentioning her inevitable death. 

“So yeah, I got really excited when I saw a chance to finally get that back against Acier-chan, and what better than to do it against her kids? You and that big bro of yours were a really good fight, so I’m happy I got to meet you Noelle-chan, even though this will be goodbye!” 

Noelle couldn’t help but a feel a bit of disbelief, despite the situation she found herself in. Instead of just leaving her alone, Vanica made sure to let her know that she was the one who got the last laugh against her old enemy. Was she really that petty? Apparently so.

“Well, that’s that then, time to say goodbye for good now Noelle-chan, you were a really fun person to play with!” Vanica said, as she sauntered away, now that Noelle was deemed to have been used up, Vanica didn’t even bother to finish her off, instead just leaving her to bleed out in silence. She tried to move her eyes to see the body of her brother, but he was out of sight no matter how hard she looked. 

With a shallow breath, Noelle closed her eyes, accepted her fate, and though about all of the people who she would never get to see again. She would never make up with her other siblings. She would never surpass her mother, like she had promised Mereoleona. She would never tell Asta that she was hopelessly in love with him. All of this was racing through her mind, as she took one final breath.

…….

…….

…….

With a gasp, Noelle shot up, the silk sheets surrounding her being flung off. Looking around, she quickly recognised the room she was in as her own - that is from when she still lived in the royal palace.

‘What the hell?’ Noelle thought, frantically scrambling out of her bed and rushing into the hall way. 

‘I’m dead’ was the only thought that stuck out in her mind right now, truly trying to see what the hell was going on. Making her way down the familiar corridors, she arrived at the room she had spent most of her time as a child, the place where her mother’s portrait was hung up. Only, it wasn’t there, nothing was. Breathing heavy, Noelle tried to calm her racing heartbeat, but she had never been a cool and collected person, so it was a struggle.

“Noelle? Is something wrong, I felt your magic spike, so I was wondering if something happened?” an unfamiliar voice said, jolting Noelle into spinning round, instinctually reaching for her grimoire, quickly discovering it was not there.

“Noelle?” Now moving closer, Noelle could clearly see the person approaching her. While she seemed a little older than the picture she had grown up seeing, there was no mistaking the signature silver ponytail, and the steely blue eyes, somehow even more beautiful in person. 

“Mom?” Was all Noelle could get out, before promptly passing out.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon waking up the second time, this time with her mother already looking over her, Noelle quickly came to a conclusion: she could either scream and freak out about what the hell was going on, or she could try and calm herself, and actually figure out what was happening, and what kind of twisted reality she had found herself in. Breathing deeply, she decided that she couldn’t allow herself to cause another scene - knowing how the royal palace operated, she was sure there was already enough gossip going around. 

“Noelle, you gave me a bit of a scare before my darling,” Acier said, smiling gently while pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

This was wildly new territory for Noelle, while she had sometimes been the unwilling recipient of Vanessa’s drunken affection, the loving hand of a mother was something she was entirely unfamiliar with. Not knowing how to react, she decided to go for something safe.

“Mmhh. Sorry,” Noelle mumbled.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Acier’s hand moved from her hair to her forehead, a frown taking over her features.

“You don’t feel hot, and the healers said there was nothing the matter with you. How are you feeling?” Acier questioned

“I feel good, the healers are right, nothing’s wrong,” Noelle said, before standing up. Now in a more calm frame of mind, she took note of some things that had escaped her yesterday. Firstly, and most obviously, the magical connection she had with her grimoire was gone, or rather had yet to be forged. She couldn’t believe she didn’t notice straight away, given how much her power was limited without spells to focus her magic. Also, while she could only guess, she thought she was at least a couple of years younger than the 16 she had been upon her ‘death’, at the very least 14, given she had no grimoire.

Acier’s frown deepened. Noelle hadn’t even looked her in the eye yet, and was obviously trying to get out of the conversation with how short she was being in her responses. Standing as well, she placed her hands on Noelle’s shoulder’s, a little upset when they tensed from the contact.

“Has someone said something to you again about your magic? You shouldn’t care what anyone else has to say to you,” Acier said, pulling Noelle into her chest. This was actually somewhat of a relief to Noelle, at last there was a piece of common ground between wherever she was now, and her original world.

“It’s fine, I don’t really know what got into me, I’m sorry for worrying you,” Noelle began, “Really it’s nothing. Is it alright if I go back to my own room to rest please,”

“That’s fine, but you know you shouldn’t bottle things up Noelle.”

Nodding, Noelle quickly retreated form the room, making her way from the infirmary back to her room as quickly as possible. Closing the door behind her, she started pacing. From just that one interaction, she realised that while some things were very different from her world, they were not completely different, given she apparently was unable to control her magic in this world as well. For now, all she could really do was try to lay low, and gather some information on what else this new world she found herself in was different compared to her old one.

Over the next few days, Noelle found out a few important details about her current situation. Firstly, as she suspected, she was indeed only 14, with her grimoire ceremony coming up a few weeks from now. Secondly, the Noelle of this world was generally treated with far more care than she had been originally. Her mother coddled her a little, and from the whispers she had picked up from the staff, this probably had to do with the fact she because she was not very talented with magic, she had grown up being bullied by some older royals. Being the youngest child also probably helped in that regard. Her relationships with her siblings were a mixed bag as well. While she had only seen him once so far, Nozel seemed to express genuine worry over her condition, and on the whole seemed much kinder, likely due to the fact Acier was around to stop him from growing cold. Somewhat surprisingly, Nozel was still the captain of the silver eagles, Acier having retired from the role. Noelle wasn’t sure when this happened, but she wasn’t aware of the reason either. While she was in her late 40’s now, Acier seemed to be in the physical condition of someone far younger, and magically speaking had at least 5 more years before she would exit her prime, and even then, Noelle could tell from sensing their magic, Acier was ridiculously strong and could probably stay on as captain well into her 60’s if she had wanted to. Perhaps she had just wanted to spend more time with her family, given she had been a soldier for at least 20 years.

As for Noelle’s other siblings, she saw those two much more frequently. Nebra seemed fairly indifferent to Noelle, not especially loving, nor cold. If anything, she was more a casual acquaintance than a normal sibling, but supposed that could be normal too given the near 10 year age gap between them, and a general lack of things in common. Solid though seemed more or less the same. Though he lacked the open hostility she was used to, the snide remarks about her poor magic and unfriendly looks were essentially the same, though he would never say anything in front of their mother. She guessed that could be a reason for the dislike as well, Solid was petty at the best of times, and it wouldn’t surprise her in the least if he disliked her for being the favourite child of their mother, though that was just a guess. Both of them were also part of the Silver Eagles squad.

Speaking of the Silver Eagles, she gathered that was to be her destination in the coming April, when the new recruits would be added to the squads. This was some cause for concern in Noelle’s eyes. While she appreciated that she had a place to go no matter what, she would always choose the Black Bulls to go to. Then again, she basically had no idea what the state of the Magic Knights was, and if the Black Bulls even existed. Regardless, she would have to convince her family to let her participate in the entrance exam this time around so she could scout out what the situation was. Besides that, while she wasn’t quite up to the level of her past life, Noelle was pretty confident in her ability to control her magic now, and had even experimented privately with drawing on natural mana to make runes, albeit with mixed success. 

For Noelle, magic control was a real issue as a child, her undeveloped body unable to properly deal with her vast amount of mana, but as she grew it should have naturally become easier to use, however she had a mental block that more or less stopped her from ever truly feeling confident in her magic. She guessed she was meant to have the same deficiency in this world, however she had long since come to terms with her abilities and no longer struggled to control her magic, as long as the task was not too intricate. The magic knights exam would be a breeze though, and she was sure she could pass even without a grimoire.

Before she could think too deeply on the subject, a knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

“What is it?” Noelle asked.

“Lady Noelle, your mother has requested your presence in the courtyard, she says it is urgent,” a maid said, opening the door slightly.

Noelle frowned. While she had always wished she could have known her mother, seeing her in this world bought up too many strange feelings. Some parts of her wanted instinctually to go to her and tell her all of her problems, and another side wanted to scream and shout, because her mother, her real mother, had been dead for 16 years. So, she settled for somewhere in the middle, and tried to keep her head down and avoid her as often as possible, despite how much this obviously upset Acier.

“I’ll be going then,” Noelle settled for.

Walking quickly past the bowing maid, Noelle wondered what could be so urgent that it required a maid to go and fetch her. She hoped it had nothing to do with her behaviour as of late, she really wasn’t interested in having to lie her way through another conversation, she was a bad lier at the best of times, and it made her feel dirty having to lie to her own family.

Spotting Acier, Noelle approached slowly. There was a table set up, looking like it was prepared for two people. This was not what she was hoping for, because if her mother planned on having a long sit down chat with Noelle, she had another thing coming, because Noelle would jump ship as soon as an opportunity presented itself, no matter how rude it would make her look.

“Mother,” Noelle greeted.

“Noelle, that was fast dear, I’m surprised you made it so quickly,” Acier replied, happy not to be waiting for too long.

“Yeah, I wasn’t busy,” Noelle said shortly. She busied herself with looking at the table, noticing there was a tea set ready. This really was not what she wanted to see.

“I can tell by the look on your face you know,” Acier sighed, seeming a bit wistful, “You really don’t want to speak to me now do you?” Stepping closer, Acier cupped Noelle’s cheeks softly, forcing her too look up. “If this is just you growing up, then so be it, I understand you want more independence as you get to this age, goodness shortly you’ll have your own grimoires and then you’ll really be an adult. But you know, you’ll always be my baby, so if there’s ever anything you need, just say Noelle.” This caused a warm fluttery feeling to rush up from her stomach and in to Noelle’s chest, a huge blush darkening her cheeks.

“Hahaha, that’s more what I’m used to seeing!” Acier giggled, hugging Noelle close. This time Noelle acted on instinct, wrapping her arms around her mothers waist and burying her face in her chest, a small noise of embarrassment escaping her. After a moment, Acier pulled back, a delighted smile on her pretty face.

“Anyway, this isn’t for you and me. I’ve noticed you’ve been a bit down lately, so I called a friend for you to come over,” Acier said. Noelle was a bit confused by this, wondering who it could be. Mimosa, probably.

“Noelle-chaaaaaaan!” A distant voice yelled, causing Noelle to turn in its direction.

“Oh my, right on time!” Acier exclaimed happily.

The first thing that stuck out to Noelle was the extremely bright pink hair, which caused her to pause. Was it Vanessa? How on earth would she have come to know the drunken witch in this timeline so soon? 

Before those thoughts could go too far, the figure approached quickly, immediately proving her thoughts wrong. The white, flowy sundress was something Vanessa would never wear, and she was also far too short. When Noelle saw the approaching girls face though, she stiffened in shock. Diving into Noelle, the girl squealed with delight.

“Oh Noelle, it’s been so long since I last saw you!” She shouted gleefully.

“Fa-Fana, good to see you too,” Noelle said nervously. Because while she had known two Fana’s in her previous life, only one had features like this. In fact, only one race had features like this, and as her eyes looked across to the girl clinging to her shoulder, all she could see where the distinctive, pointy ears, of the elven Fana.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you like it? This one was a little bit of a struggle to write, but I have a better idea of what to do next, so hopefully I'll have that done pretty soon. I feel I need to address it here, some of you may wonder how Noelle has so quickly jumped to the conclusion that she is in a different world, and why is she so calm about it. Basically, this is my personal preference, as whenever I read rebirth stories, I feel they dwell too long on the 'what is going on' part. While it makes sense, I feel it adds very little to the story, and is a bit of a waste of time to write, since they would eventually arrive at that conclusion anyway. Also, Noelle knows other realms exist, so it is somewhat plausible for something like this to be a thing in her universe. I hope this didn't bother anyone, and you enjoyed the content of this chapter, and the direction I'm going from here. Next chapter:  
> Fana and Noelle catch up  
> Noelle get's her Grimoire.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review on the way out!


	3. Chapter 3

“Well, it’s good to see you two are still so friendly, I’ll leave you to it then!” Acier said happily, before walking back into the castle. 

Noelle looked at her back with dread, suddenly wanting to not be alone with Fana of all people. While she wasn’t scared of her by any means, she really wasn’t sure how to speak to Fana. While their most recent interaction had been as allies, the vast majority of the time she had seen Fana, Noelle had been fighting for her life. 

“Come on, let’s sit! I heard from Lady Acier that you’d been feeling down, and it’s been ages since we’ve been able to speak like this,” Fana said dragging her over to the table. As the two took their seats, Noelle took a second to compose herself. If Fana was alive and well, she would assume that the other elves were still around, which meant that the Eye of the Midnight Sun would not be an enemy to her in this world. That took somewhat of a wait off her shoulders, seeing as they were the first group of enemies they faced originally. More than that though, if elves weren’t killed off by human royalty 500 years ago, why was Fana alive? If the timelines matched up, Fana would have long since died of old age. However, if Fana was here now, a girl her own age, if a bit older judging by the grimoire hanging by her waist, then that meant things were getting more and more complicated. She needed to use this opportunity to find out as much as she could.

“Yeah, I guess, I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately you know?” Noelle answered, being as truthful as possible. 

“Hmm, I get that, you must be thinking about getting your grimoire right? That’s coming pretty soon for you isn’t it? I remember before getting mine I was super nervous too. I really hoped I’d make everyone from home proud by getting strong spells,” Fana said, “But you shouldn’t worry about it, I’m sure you’ll have some really awesome spells!” Fana finished.

Noelle had forgotten the anxiety she felt the first time round when getting her Grimoire, knowing the embarrassment that would inevitably come from a lacking number of spells. Her grimoire was royal looking enough, being a pristine white with gold accents, however that didn’t make up for how, in Solid’s words, ‘flimsy’ it was. It was strangely comforting though that she had some friends in this world that seemed to care about her, regardless of what her magic turned out to be, even if that friend was a former enemy.

“Ahaha, something like that I guess,” Noelle began, annoyed at how nervous she still sounded, “But anyways, enough about me, what was it like for you getting her? I’m sure it was a pretty long journey just to come and see me.”

“What are you talking about silly? I just had Raiya use his copied spatial magic to send me over, it was no worries at all,” Fana replied, a bemused smile on her face. Great, that meant the other elves from her life were really running about in this world too. Raiya was an especially difficult person to deal with, so she hoped she didn’t need to cross paths with him very often.

“You know you do seem a bit funny today. I guess I’ll just have to show you something cool now to break you out of your funk!” Fana said, standing up quickly. Noelle stiffened when Fana pulled out her grimoire, but quickly settled realising the lack of intent. However, she went straight back to tense, and then some, her mouth dropping in shock and awe as the fire spirit Salamander emerged from her grimoire. Standing up to meet Fana’s eyes, Noelle slammed her hands on the table.

“Fana that’s incredible! You were chosen by the fire spirit!” Noelle exclaimed, and with a start she realised she felt genuine joy for the girl in front of her. Before she could dwell too long on that thought though, Fana leaned forward and cupped her mouth with her hand.

“Shhh! Patry told me not to tell anyone until I’ve gotten better at controlling it’s power, it could make me a target, you know?” Fana started, “But it is really cool huh? The only problem is now I’m definitely going to go ahead and join the Crimson Lions instead of the Silver Eagles, but we’ll still see each other a bunch since the squads are so close to each other.” 

Seeing a good a chance as any to open up in a way that would not raise too much suspicion, Noelle used the mentioning of the squads to try and get a more open conversation going.

“Well about that…” Noelle proceeded to explain how she was feeling a bit unsure about the process of just being let into a squad without having to run through the official channels like everyone else, though she didn’t outright say anything about not wanting to join the Silver Eagles.

“I’m kind of surprised to be honest, I didn’t really think about it like that. You know most of us elves don’t really bother joining the magic knights, but when we do, all the squad leaders are so desperate to get us in, we can usually join any without the exam too, sort of like the royals too I guess. But you know what, I think that’s pretty cool that you don’t want to go through the back door like most royals! If that’s the only problem, I’m sure you can get your brother to let you join, you know he can’t say no to you Noelle,” Fana finished, teasing her a bit, successfully making her blush.

“He’s way more strict than you think,” Noelle said, a bit at a loss for words. 

After that, the conversation flowed surprisingly naturally, and she really enjoyed speaking to the elf girl. That fact made her feel a tad uneasy, but she didn’t let herself dwell on it for too long, too pleased with the success of the conversation.

A few weeks later, Noelle found herself marching through the main entrance of the grimoire tower, an embarrassingly large entourage with her. The first time she did this, she had come with a single attendant, and had kept herself as low-key as possible, as per instruction of Nozel. This time, a whole flood of people, including her entire family were with her. Not only that, but everyones eyes were in her. She wasn’t quite the black sheep she had once been, however people in the royal capital knew she wasn’t quite up to par as of yet, so all these eyes on her were making her nervous. She also knew that she was the youngest royal currently living, and as such there would be at least 16 more years before another member of the royal family received a grimoire, which only added to the spectacle.

“We’ll be waiting dear, good luck!” Acier said, as she moved away to the side along with the rest of the family. Nozel and surprisingly Nebra gave her smiles of encouragement, and even Solid managed to keep the sour look off his face, though that would undoubtedly come back with a vengeance no matter the outcome. If her grimoire had all of her previous spells, she would no doubt be showered with praise, causing his jealousy of her to rear its ugly head. If she had no spells, she would no doubt receive plenty of attention from her brother and mother, reassuring her it was fine, which would only anger him more, that such a failure was getting special treatment.

As the elderly mage began to preach to them the meaning of the grimoire ceremony, Noelle tuned everything out. This was an important moment for her, would she have the power of her past life right away, or would she have to build up from 0 once more? Would it even be a benefit to her having so many strong spells at her disposal right away, since it would inevitably draw mountains of attention to her? Would the grimoire she received even be the same?

As these questions were rushing through her mind, a powerful surge of magic from in front of her snapped her back into focus. The wall of grimoires glowed and one by one they began to slowly gravitate towards their chosen partner. Noelle could feel a tug on her mana as the connection was formed. Looking closely, she could clearly see her white and gold grimoire, and was more than a little pleased when it did indeed make its way to her outstretched hand. She was strangely attached to the book, though from what she could tell, so were most mages to their grimoires. 

As the book settled into her hands, Noelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn’t really tell from the weight what was inside of the grimoire. Opening her eyes, she decided to rip the bandaid off, and flicked through the pages to see its contents. Seeing its insides, Noelle let out the breath she was holding, a mix of mostly relief, but also with dread.

Every spell was there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit shorter than last time, hope you don't mind. Not much to say really, hopefully you enjoyed, and as always please tell me how it was in the comments, I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have, and any comments usually motivates me to write more! 
> 
> Next time:
> 
> Noelle enters the magic knight exams!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a long one to make up for last time!

4 months later

It was a rare day where Nozel managed to make time to have dinner with the whole family. While it was sometimes a bit unnerving for Noelle, she couldn’t deny that this Nozel was definitely a lot more open than the one she knew growing up, and generally seemed like a more kind person. While she didn’t blame her Nozel, given he had to mature much faster than this one, it was still nice to have an older brother who openly cared for her. This meant that conversation at the table was much more lively than usual, everyone eager to talk to the usually hard to reach captain. 

This usually applied to Noelle too, however today was different. Today was when she was going to ask to be allowed to participate in the magic knights exam. It was pretty nerve wracking for Noelle, seeing as she knew what the likely response would be - no. Not only would it be a no, there would likely be questions that came attached as well, asking why on earth a royal should lower themselves when they didn’t need to. However, she was determined, and wouldn’t take no as an answer. She was pretty confident Nozel would say no, but her mother would likely back her up if she showed how serious she was, and that could tip the balance in her favour. Nebra would probably be indifferent, and Solid likely won’t care either way, but would gladly take the chance to get a few digs in.

Besides, if worse came to worse, she would just go herself without permission. It was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission after all. Hearing a lull in the conversation, Noelle took her opportunity.

“Big brother,” Noelle started, but then paused when the attention of the table shifted to her. She wasn’t really sure a safe way to start the topic, so she decided it was best to just get to the point. 

“You know the magical knight exams are coming up right?”

“Of course, this is one of the most important times of the year for squads. It is crucial that we receive the best possible talent, and seeing as it is only an annual event, we must also be prepared for the large influx of new squad members. Why are you asking?” Nozel replied, a curious frown on his face.

“Well the thing is…” Noelle started, taking a moment to find her resolve, “I’m going to take part in them.” 

It was a simple enough statement, and she deliberately didn’t ask for permission, knowing that phrasing it the way she did presented her as more confident than she really was. The reactions it drew were instant, everyone around looking surprised to some some degree, though Nozel hid it the best. It seemed he could still be stoic when it was required. Just as the silence was getting awkward, Solid jumped in, predictably not taking it well.

“You ungrateful brat,” he spat, “You get the chance to join elder brother’s squad, which is more than you could ever achieve on your own, and you throw it back in his face. Must you embarrass us at every chance? I can only imagine how the public will react when a member of the royal family fails so abysmally-“

“Solid, be silent,” Acier said, tone more harsh than Noelle had ever heard it. To be honest, this Solid was far easier to brush off than the one she grew up with, seeing as she was both more mature, and he also lacked the genuine hatred of her that she was used to. He just seemed petty. That being said, Noelle was still pleased to see her mother on her side. Turning back to Nozel, Noelle was unsure how to proceed. He seemed in no hurry to tell her his thoughts, and that was generally not the best sign in her opinion. 

“I can vouch for her ability dear, if you’re concerned about that,” Acier said, “Although it’s only been a few months since she got her grimoire, Noelle has come a long way in controlling her abilities. While it’s true her spells aren’t that diverse, they are very strong, certainly more than enough for anyone at the exam.” After finishing, Acier turned and flashed Noelle a reassuring grin. 

To be honest, that make her feel a little guilty. While it was true Acier had insisted on overseeing her training since receiving her grimoire, she was holding back the vast majority of her spells. It was theoretically possible to have that many spells straight away, but in practice, it was basically unheard of, especially when looking at the power of them. Not wanting to draw too much attention, Noelle had managed to hide the fact she had several powerful spells, and had instead only been showing off her Sea Dragon’s Lair and Waterball, one offensive and one defensive. Still though, Acier was correct. If she was even half serious, both of those spells would completely overwhelm a rookie magic knight. 

“Noelle,” Nozel began, startling her from her thoughts. “Do you know why royalty never take part in these exams?”

“Because it is unnecessary, royalty don’t need to take the exam since the squad leaders alway want to have them anyway,” Noelle said, having heard this justification several times.

“That is part of it. However that alone isn’t the entire reason. Royalty must always keep themselves at a distance from the regular citizens, they cannot be allowed to see our shortcomings. And it is also true what Solid said. Were a royal ever be defeated by a noble, or even worse a commoner, then the people will question why we rule them, and get to live above them. Distance is the best way to ensure are status continues as it has done for centuries now,” Nozel explained. Noelle took a moment to digest it, before settling on her response.

“Forgive my big brother, but I don’t care about any of that. I don’t care how the rest of the country see’s me, or even royalty in general. I just want to prove myself as a magic knight, the same way everyone else does. If that makes me selfish then so be it, but I don’t want to live keeping a distance from everyone just to portray a fake image of superiority,” Noelle said confidently, keeping eye contact with Nozel the whole time, “Besides, like mother said, I’m not going to lose.”

Acier seemed happy at her bold declaration, Nebra shocked, and Solid was seething. However it was Nozel who she was interested in. So far, he had barely blinked, staring her down as if waiting for her to back down. He’d have to wait a long time however, as this was something she was unwilling to fold on. After a minute of silence, Nozel finally reacted, sighing before standing up. He carefully tucked in his chair, before walking to a door. Noelle could feel her heart sink, however just as he place his hand on the door handle, he stopped, and turned his head to look at her again.

“You may participate in the exams if that’s what you wish, Noelle,” Nozel said, “However, no matter what, you will be joining the Silver Eagles. Do you understand?”

The last part bought her down a bit, and she nodded hesitantly to him, prompting him to leave the room. This was definitely going to be an issue somewhere down the line, but for now she would take her win and be happy with it. 

Later that evening, Nozel and Acier found themselves alone, talking about the recent news in the capital, while Nozel also kept Acier up to date with the state of the Silver Eagles. Eventually though, Acier decided to bring up the elephant in the room.

“I’m proud of the way you handled Noelle earlier. Goodness knows what’s gotten in to her, but she seems almost like a new person these past few months. There’s no way she would have been able to be so composed in front of everyone like that before,” Acier said, trying to coax a response from Nozel.

“She does definitely seem to be more confident. I suppose that is a good thing, a sign of her growing up. A magic knight cannot be weak willed,” Nozel replied.

“I don’t think her will was ever an issue. Even when she was completely hopeless at controlling her magic, she was working hard to get stronger. How many times did you or I have to put her to bed after collapsing from overdoing her training?” Acier asked, laughing lightly at the memory.  
“Yes, well it doesn’t seem like that will be a problem for us any more, will it?” Nozel said in response, a nostalgic smile forming on his face.

“Hmmm, what’s the matter? Are you upset your baby sister is grown up now?” Acier giggled.

“Mother, please stop.”

The next few weeks flew by for Noelle, as she grew more and more excited to finally see her old squad again. It was going to be an uncomfortable conversation for sure with her brother when she chose to join the Black Bulls instead, however that would have to wait. Now she had to pass the exams.

As she entered the arena where the exams took place, she immediately looked around hoping to catch sight of Asta. With how loud he was, it shouldn’t be too difficult to locate him. However, after checking and then rechecking she quickly came to the conclusion he hadn’t arrived yet. Not too big an issue, it’s not like she could have gone up to him like normal anyway. 

Predictably, eyes shot to her as soon as she walked in. Unlike the majority of the applicants, there were no anti-magic birds surrounding her, and that as well as her trademark silver hair immediately informed those surrounding her of her royal status. Not long after that, whispers started. She did a good job of ignoring them, not really caring what they had to say anyway. However, something did make her pause, as she caught sight of a tall boy around her age, also standing alone and with no birds around him. However, as she examined him closer, she felt her heart stop. Casually resting by his waist was his grimoire, and on it were 4 leaves. 

It was not Yuno.

Rumours of a boy who had come into the possession of a 4 leaf grimoire had reached as far as the royal capital, however she paid it no mind. That had happened in her last life as well, so she had assumed Yuno would be the one here as well to receive it, especially given her grimoire was the exact same. Apparently not. As if sensing her eyes on him, the boy turned and looked at her, sizing her up. Seeing she was looking at his grimoire, he smirked before walking away.

Noelle couldn’t care less about this boy though. If Yuno wasn’t here, then what was the situation with Asta? How could it be possible for Yuno or Asta not to be here? People were more or less the same personality wise in this world, so how was it that the two most driven and competitive people she knew were not at these exams? 

As she was thinking about all of these things, she was snapped back to attention when the captains appeared. As they all came in to view, Noelle felt her heart sink even lower, if that were possible. Yami wasn’t among the captains either, and there were no representatives of the Black Bulls. 

Why on earth was this happening now? Everything had been looking up for Noelle in this new world. Though it was hard adjusting to her new family, at least she had one that loved her. The elves weren’t going to start rampaging any time soon, and she had the chance to become far more powerful this time around then she had before, and so if she ever happened to run across Vanica ever again, or anyone for that matter who was trying to destroy the people she loved, she would be ready. 

Now though everything would be different. As the exams began, she felt herself go on autopilot as she did her best to make it through the beginning stages, while her mind was on anything and everything but the exam. What the hell was she going to do now? She had to find out more, because she couldn’t accept the reality she now faced, one where she wouldn’t be able to be with her friends. 

The exam was flying by, and the next thing she knew, they were being instructed to pair up with someone to show off their combat strength. Noelle was far too distracted to even bother looking for someone to pair up with, and everyone else seemed happy enough avoiding her, most not liking their chance against a royal. However, this didn’t stop one person from approaching her.

“Hey, royal,” the 4 leaf boy said, being as confrontational as possible. Noelle registered him blankly, barely looking at him.

“What’s the matter? You nervous? Don’t you want to test yourself against someone who can actually fight back?” He sneered condescendingly. 

Noelle nodded at him, eyes dull. This seemed to take some wind out of his sales, but he picked it back up quickly.

“Well, let’s go then,” he said, a bit more seriously now. The proctor for the exam nervously led them toward the centre of the arena. Even though she was barely paying attention, Noelle took note of the whispers surrounding them. It wasn’t surprising in the least, for the only royal and only boy with a 4 leaf grimoire to fight was surely going to be the story of the exam.

“Noelle Silva and Hei, begin!” The proctor announced before darting off.

The boy in front of her, Hei apparently, seemed in no rush to attack, merely sizing her up, and probably waiting for her to make the first move. Noelle used this time to take his appearance in. From a distance, he seemed to resemble Yuno a fair bit. He was tall, skinny, and with black hair. However upon further inspection, Noelle took note that his face was different, especially his eyes, which were a piercing blue, as opposed to Yuno’s amber. Her observations were broken off when she felt his magic crackle around him, arcs of blue electricity surrounding his arm as he lazily raised it to point at her. 

“If you’re not going to move, I’ll make you,” he said boldly.

“Lightning creation magic: Thunder God’s Bellow!” 

Immediately, an orb of powerful lightning appeared in his hand, before shooting out like a laser, rapidly covering the distance between the two. On instinct, Noelle raised her Sea Dragon’s Lair, and the attack stopped dead in its tracks. This seemed to frustrate the boy in front of her, and instead of trying a new attack, he pumped up the amount of mana in the spell, the beam’s radius instantly doubling in size. 

Noelle could have matched it, but she realised that would probably be suspicious. Despite being a royal fighting a peasant, this peasant had the 4 leaf grimoire, which in many peoples eyes put him right on par with her, if not above her. On top of this, lightning was her magic’s natural counter, so just endlessly defending would most definitely draw some scrutiny.

Cancelling her spell, Noelle dived to the side to get out of the way of the lightning strike, and she could hear the crash as it collided with the magically reenforced stone wall behind her. Trying to get her head in the game, she flung out a few balls of water. Hei stood firm, countering her attack with one of his own,

“Lightning creation magic: Thunder God’s Arrows!” Unsurprisingly, arrows made of lightning quickly intercepted her own water balls. However, instead of piercing threw the orbs of water, they instead only just did enough to disrupt the structure of her spell, sending an unpleasant spray of cold water over Hei. This definitely frustrated him, as he quickly changed tactics from before, and he rushed her, opting to move in close to fight her.

“Lightning creation magic: Thunder God’s Sword,” Hei said as he got into Noelle’s range. This did make Noelle a little impressed. She remembered from her time training with Luck or Gajah, most lightning mages only specialised in either close range techniques or discharge ones. From what she could tell, he was intuitively using his lighting magic to reinforce his movements, moving far faster than any junior magic knight had right to, and the lightning sword in his hand was nothing to scoff at either. 

Noelle was a bit at a loss at how to proceed. She had basically lost all motivation to make a spectacle of her battle, with no Yami to impress, and a guaranteed spot in a squad. Not only that, but despite being very raw, the boy swinging wildly at her was clearly very talented. With the spells she had limited to herself to, she would eventually win with stamina alone. However, that would take a while, as Hei seemed to be in very good shape, both physically and in terms of mana quantity. If she used runes, she could enhance her water ball to be strong enough to take him out, but that would be even worse than just using a Sea Dragon’s Roar.

As Noelle was musing to herself on how best to take him down, Hei was silently impressed. He had never met anyone from his home who could put up any resistance to him, his magic always overwhelmingly powerful despite not owning a grimoire. Once he had received his grimoire however, he was sure of one thing. He was special. Even the nobles who mocked him when he arrived in the capital were quickly cowed by just flexing his mana. So for there to be a girl his own age, with a natural disadvantage to him, easily matching his power, he couldn’t help but be impressed. Hopping away from the girl who had only been dodging him so far, Hei struggled to come up with a way to win. Despite the arrogant front he had used on her earlier, he wasn’t an idiot; with his current arsenal, he couldn’t defeat her. Just as Hei thought this, he took note of his grimoire, glowing the electric blue he associated with a new spell, and grinned.

Noelle let him gather his thoughts, sure he was going to rush in once more. However, it appeared she had underestimated the power of that grimoire of his, because she could see the pages flickering as his power surged. Deciding to play it safe, she kept her guard up, and waited for an attack.

“Lightning creation magic: Thunder God’s Armour!” Despite the name, the new spell was less of an armour than it was an aura, in Noelle’s eyes. There was just a crackling blue energy that surrounded him, unlike her own Valkyrie armour, or even Luck’s less encompassing reinforcement magic that covered his feet and hands with gauntlets of electricity. 

Before she could think too long about this though, he rocketed forward far faster than before, and all Noelle could do was raise her arms to block, as a punch sent her flying back into the wall, her back hitting it harshly. Gasps were heard from around the arena, most people unable to have even reacted to the speed of the attack. Up in the viewing deck, the captains all sent a side eyed glance to Nozel, as he barely managed to restrain himself from reacting, his magic flickering violently underneath his skin.

The attack was fast, however it wasn’t especially powerful, and Noelle got up from it easily enough. Looking at him again, she determined it was probably a fairly basic spell, just an upgraded form of the reinforcement magic all mages use to speed themselves up and increase their strength, However, with his lightning mana, the speed he could now go at was something to be feared. For most people anyway. As talented as Hei clearly was, he had just unlocked this spell. Once he could use it in conjunction with other attack spells, he would be fearsome, and she had a feeling if she let this battle play out much longer, she would likely see him move to that point rapidly. 

However, she had promised her brother, and she meant it. She wasn’t going to lose, even if the Black Bulls weren’t here now. Knowing them, they would be off doing something stupid, but just without the kingdom’s official banner. Once she joined the magic knights, she could think about it more. But for now, she had to finish this fight.

As expected, he rushed in again, clearly pleased with the success he had using it before. However, now Noelle had seen the speed of it, she wouldn’t be caught off guard again. Pumping huge amounts of magic through her limbs, Noelle ramped up her own physical abilities, and caught the kick Hei threw at her. He tried to jump back, but she held firm, even as she was stung by the uncomfortable sensation of electricity running through her veins. Her own grimoire quickly changed pages and as she looked up, Hei’s eyes widened and Noelle felt some smug satisfaction for the first time this fight.

“Water creation magic: Sea Dragons 0-Range Roar!” Noelle shouted, as the variant of her first attack spell quickly formed, the dragon’s head seemingly swallowing the two of them whole. However, once the dragon had Hei in its jaws, it rushed forward, and slammed him into the wall, deep cracks quickly making their way around the arena’s walls, despite her carefully controlling the power of the spell so as to not kill him. 

As the spell cleared, she was unsurprised to see him lying face down on the floor. As the proctor announced her victory, healers rushed over to Hei, making sure he was in fact alive. Not really sure what to do now, Noelle awkwardly walked over to him. He surprised her when he tried to shrug off the healers, and stumbled to his feat. The attack had been mostly blunt force, and so he was just a bit concussed from the attack, as opposed to the tearing that came from her more serious roars. 

Hei stared down at her, and she wasn’t sure what it was in his eyes, but she was surprised at the lack of hostility. Her first impressions were that of an arrogant brat, but he was remarkably calm in the face of defeat. Their little stare down was cut off, as the proctor encouraged the next pair to come forward, and the healers dragged him off, no doubt trying to ensure there was no internal damage.

Noelle didn’t say anything as he left, and she could feel the eyes staring at her, no one interested in the next battle taking place. Noelle paid them no mind, as her eyes wandered up to the captains. Nozel seemed unfazed, and he was focusing on the applicants, but she was sure she would be getting a talking to later about what the spell she used was, and why she hadn’t revealed it to them before the exam. That was just another issue that would have to be left for later it seemed.

Some time later, after the exams final stage had taken place, she stood in the crowd as the applicants were one by one told what there offers were. When it was her turn, she walked forward like everyone else, and awaited judgement.

“Noelle Silva, applicant #122,” the proctor announced.

Somewhat surprisingly, two hands raised. She had sort of expected wither all of the captains to want her, or only Nozel, depending on if Nozel had instructed the captains not to interfere. From the looks of it, the latter was almost definitely true, as Nozle couldn’t help but glare daggers at Charlotte as she raised her hand calmly. While it was nice to be wanted, and she was curious what an all-girls squad would be like, she had no reason to cause tension with her family now that the Black Bulls were no longer an option.

“I choose the Silver Eagles,” Noelle said, loudly enough to be heard clearly. Charlotte didn’t react to the snub, however Nozel was relieved, worried that Noelle had been so insistent on takin these exams as a means of getting away from her family.

Walking back, Noelle’s eyes shot open as she saw the next applicant walk by her, Hei meeting her eyes briefly. As she arrived back in the crowd, she looked up to see that all the captains had indeed risen their hands for him, no doubt a first for a loosing applicant. She was curious as to what he was going to do, and he surprised her once more by turning his head a bit, once again causing their eyes to meet, and he smiled. Unsure what this meant, she paid attention to his words, as he turned back to meet the captains eyes again.

“I choose the Silver Eagles.”

Immediately, the crowd was whispering again, all eyes once again on Noelle and Hei, and Noelle could have slammed her head into a wall when he smirked when he walked past her.

‘What the hell is this guy up to?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This felt like it could have been two chapters, but I wanted to get past the exam, so here we are. This is my first time writing a fight, not sure how it went, so feel free to let me know if you have any tips to improve! The 0-range spell Noelle used was one of my favourites from the recent arc (even if did nothing rip), so I wanted to have it in here as the finisher.
> 
> As some of you may have known, Hei is named after a character from Darker than Black who can also control electricity, a very cool character I think. Also, I'm really not that creative with spells or names of them, so they were very basic for Hei, the bellow a straight copy from the Fairy Tail god slayers, and the armour spell unlocked in the fight is based off of the raikage from Naruto. If I have other spells not canon, they will probably be based off other anime I have seen, just so you know. Hei will be a reoccurring character, but the focus will be Noelle, and eventually the Black Bulls when they will be introduced, which will be in the next 2-3 chapters if I have planned right. Also, just so you know, Yuno does exist in this world, and will make an appearance at some point, though when I don't really know to be honest.
> 
> I'm going to try get 2 updates a week out, but this may go to one if I'm busy, or not feeling that motivated. Anyway, as always, please review, they are all super motivating to me, so if you liked it, or even if you didn't, please let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

Life as a Silver Eagle was in a word… boring.

Noelle was used to a squad that was constantly moving, always a new mission, a new enemy, a new threat. Even the 6 months in the Heart Kingdom was spent training intensively towards a specific goal.

As such, the so called ‘normal’ life of a magic knight was something Noelle was quite unaccustomed to. Fighting the run of the mill thieves and thugs was really quite easy when compared to the things Noelle had been used to fighting, even as a beginner. She imagined the problem was only exacerbated by the experience she had acquired as well as the power she had at her disposal in this wold. Speaking of the power she had, that had certainly been an awkward conversation with her mother, stuttering and stumbling over why she had hidden a new spell from her in their training sessions. Noelle had eventually managed to convince Acier it was because she wanted to surprise them with a powerful new spell, but it had been a close call.

Her boredom also wasn’t helped by the fact that Nozel seemed adamant on sending her on the lowest risk jobs possible. While she hadn’t directly told him to stop it, she had though she was pretty blatant in the fact she was looking for an upgrade in the difficulty of her missions. Yami had always been of the mindset that if you weren’t ready for a mission, the experience would drive you to new power and make you ready. Nozel seemed to have that mindset with 95% of his squad but he couldn’t help but try and shelter his siblings, especially her.

“Oy, Noelle!”

There was also him. Hei had been an unusual addition to her life, wildly different from the other major influences on her. Not to say that Hei was a major influence on her, but so far, he had been the most similar to Asta in terms of their professional relationship, with Nozel usually sending the two of them out on missions together, occasionally accompanied by a more experience magic knight. Noelle didn’t really know what to think about him. He came off as a bit arrogant usually, with a bit of a dislike for the nobility, but he also seemed very intent on keeping a good relationship with her, seeing as he’d gone out of his way to not annoy her as much as the other senior members of her squad. In that way he reminded her a bit of Zora.

“What is it?” Noelle asked. She had been sitting in the common room of the Silver Eagles base, far larger, and also far less cozy than that of the Black Bulls, as she’d expected, given how many more members there were. It also didn’t help that she was the captains little sister as well as royalty, which was treated far more seriously than it ever had been amongst her old squad.

“The captain’s called for us, we’ve got a mission,” Hei said, smirking “And by the sound of it, we’re finally getting an upgrade.” That made Noelle pay attention. Hei had been far more vocal about his dislike of their current level of mission, constantly complaining to her to get Nozel to move them along to the more serious jobs.

“Let’s go then,” Noelle said simply. The two of them moved through the base quickly and quietly, both content with the silence. As usual, envious gazes followed the two of them, and by now neither of them let it get to them. This base was far more formal than the Black Bull’s base, and Nozel actually had a dedicated room for his office.

“Noelle, Hei,” Nozel said as the two entered.

“Captain,” the two saluted.

Nozel seemed to hesitate for a moment, before he said what he had called them for.

“The wizard king has allocated our squad a joint mission,” Nozel said.

“Joint mission?” Hei asked.

“Yes, it means that you will be collaborating with other squads to complete this mission. While we are in different squads, magic knights are expected to be able to work well together no matter what. Missions like these help build that teamwork and trust with other teams,” Nozel explained.

“What will we be doing on the mission, captain?” Noelle asked formally. While she knew Nozel wouldn’t mind her being less formal, the other squad members were already jealous enough that the normally harsh Nozel seemed to be a bit more lenient on his sister, so she didn’t want to alienate herself any further from them.

“You’ll be working with the Crimson Lion’s and the Golden Dawn, and each squad will be contributing two members,” Nozel began, “A dungeon has appeared on the boarder of the Diamond Kingdom - we must capture it as soon as possible.”

Noelle felt her stomach lurch at the information. So far, very little had been similar to her path in her last life, and while it wasn’t completely the same, knowing who she would be working with, it was still enough to make her nervous.

“This is a pretty important mission right?” Hei asked, barely able to mask his excitement.

“Very. Normally a much more experienced group would set out for a mission like this, however we were give specific instruction by the wizard king to send out the two less experienced members. You two fit that bill,” Nozel said, “Do you two have any further questions?”

Shaking their heads, the two were dismissed and told to be ready to leave immediately. Hei was literally vibrating with excitement, and she could feel the tiny hairs on her arms stand up as the static electricity from his magic permeated the air, going as far as lifting up a few errant strands from her pigtail.

“Hey, calm down will you, you’re messing up my hair,” Noelle complained as she patted it down for emphasis.

“Haha, sorry, I can’t help it, this is our first big time mission so of course I’m getting excited over it!” Hei said, grinning down at her. Noelle noticed he did that a lot. It was weird. Normally he kept up the calm, arrogant demeanour, especially when dealing with nobles, but he seemed far more light hearted around her. Probably because they joined squad at the same time.

“Well, still. If all goes well, it will have even less action than a usual mission capturing some thief,” Noelle scolded. She had a pretty good feeling that was not going to be the case, but it was always better to be optimistic, in Noelle’s experience.

“Don’t be such a downer,” Hei complained. The two continued their back and forth as they made their way over to the meeting point given to them, right in front of the royal palace. The two fell silent, and Noelle noticed Hei visibly reign himself in, as they saw the other four members of their team together. 

From the Golden Dawn stood Mimosa and Klaus, two of the three members who she had been with the first time round. From the Crimson Lion though was what interested her more, as Leopold and Fana stood. Leopold was a bit of a weird person for Noelle to interact with. While they were both royalty, they weren’t directly related as the two of them were to Mimosa, and so had less family interactions. Well, that had been the case before joining the magic knights, and had gotten fairly close with him when training in the Heart Kingdom. She hadn’t seen him yet since waking in this world, given he was still a year older than her, and as such was constantly working hard as a magic knight, so she wondered what their relationship was like here. She was thankfully already clued in on her relationship with Fana though, as that would have been an awkward conversation if it was only sprung on her now.

“Hey Noelle!” Mimosa shouted once she saw her, Fana also turning and waving. Noelle smiled back as they approached closer. She was bit surprised at how little she saw Mimosa so far, but thinking back, the Silva’s and Vermillion’s did tend to avoid each other in her last life too, and she had only really seen Mimosa at balls or banquets.

“Hi guys, good to see-“ Noelle began before being cut off by an exuberant Leo, as he picked her up in an unexpected bear hug.

“Hahaha, what’s with this cold attitude Noelle! It’s been a long time, and you don’t even greet me!” Leo shouted. Mortified by his sudden affection, Noelle put her hands to his chest before sending him flying with a blast of water. Well that answered her earlier thoughts on their relationship in this world. Mimosa and Fana giggled, while Klaus shoved up his glasses, unsure what to say about two people of a supposedly higher social standing than him behaving in such a way.

“Elder Brother was saying that you’re magic has gotten better, I suppose he was telling the truth! I look forward to seeing it on the mission Noelle!” Leo said earnestly. He always did remind her a bit of Asta, with the foolhardy optimism and volume. Noelle blushed at the praise, but before she could respond, Hei interrupted.

“Well maybe if you kept your hands to yourself, you wouldn’t of had to experience it first hand,” Hei said, a cold smile sent at Leo. 

“Haha, I suppose that’s true!” Leo exclaimed, “What is your name, I don’t think I’ve seen you around before?”

“You wouldn’t have,” Hei muttered, “Noelle, who’s this?” She had been looking back and forth between the two boys, the tension obvious to anyone not called Leo, who thankfully wouldn’t notice passive aggressiveness if you hit him over the head with it.

“A-ah right. Hei, this is Leopold Vermillion, the little brother of the Crimson Lion’s captain. We’re not really related but we are both royalty, so yeah…” Noelle trailed off, not really sure why she felt the need to add the last part.

“Anyway, the elf girl is called Fana, she’s another friend of mine, and she uses fire magic too. The Golden Dawn girl is called Mimosa Vermillion, she’s mine and Leo’s cousin, and she uses plant magic for support. The Golden Dawn boy is called K-“ Noelle suddenly slammed her mouth shut, realising her near error. She definitely shouldn’t have any idea as to who the hell Klaus was yet.   
“Sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“My name is Klaus Lunettes, a 3rd class intermediate knight, and wilder of steel magic. Pleased to make your acquaintance, my lady!” Klaus said, before bowing deeply to her. Not really knowing how to react, Noelle stood in place awkwardly. Before the pause grew too awkward Mimosa thankfully jumped in.

“Klaus-san, I told you, being formal will only make Noelle uncomfortable, please stop being weird,” Mimosa said pleasantly, despite the rudeness of her words. Klaus flushed, looking horrified. 

“Anyway, why don’t you introduce yourself, Hei was it?” Mimosa questioned.

“Yeah, I’m Hei. I use lightning magic,” Hei said shortly. Once again there was a but of an uncomfortable pause, before Fana took charge this time.

“Well, it was nice getting to know you all, but we should get a move on now, shouldn’t we? This mission is pretty urgent,” Fana said. Everyone was happy to get over the awkward introduction, and quickly mounted the brooms provided for them, as they made their way to the coordinated given to them. Noelle trailed behind a bit, focusing on her stability. Noticing this, Fana and Mimosa drew back level with her.

“You alright, Noelle? We know this isn’t your strong suit, so you can share with one of us, if you’d rather,” Fana offered thoughtfully, and Mimosa nodded. It was a nice gesture, but Noelle was happy as she was.

“Thanks, but I have to practice if I want to get any better, right?” Noelle answered.

“That’s true I suppose. Anyway…” Fana trailed off before making an exaggerated eye gesture between her and Hei, grinning at her. Noelle frowned, confused.

“What? I know he was pretty rude earlier, but he’s not that bad a guy once you get to know him, I guess,” Noelle said.

“Not that bad hmmm?” Now it was Mimosa jumping in.

“I don’t get it,” Noelle said simply.

“Come on, he obviously got super jealous when Leo hugged you, he wasn’t really trying to be subtle you know?” Mimosa said, and she and Fana shared a laugh when a look of realisation dawned on Noelle.

“J-Jealous?! What the hell are you talking about?” Noelle shouted. The boys in front turned back to look at them, before shrugging it off when they all looked away.

“Yeah it was really obvious he didn’t like it one bit. But what about you hmm? You seem like you didn’t think about it like that so do you not like him like that?” Fana questioned, voice lowered a bit to make sure no one else heard.

“I don’t like Hei like that,” Noelle said bluntly. Fana and Mimosa were a bit shocked, since normally Noelle would get very red and nervous about questions like this, which was the direction she seemed to be going in. However as soon as the topic of her liking him back was mentioned, Noelle was much more serious.

“Geez, that’s pretty harsh. Is there someone else on your mind for you to be so sure about that?” Mimosa asked. Noelle was starting to go a bit red again, however she was saved from further questioning as Hei shouted back at them.

“Sorry to disturb your little chat but we’re here!”

Looking up the girls noticed the dungeon poking up from the tree line, and now they focused, they could all feel the disturbing mana balance in the air. Noelle’s broom stared shaking a bit, and so they all decided to land a bit further out and walk the rest of the distance on foot. Approaching the doors to it, they paused.

“Have you done one of these before Leo? Do we just walk in?” Fana asked.

“I’ve done one before. You do just walk in but make sure to be careful. Dungeons are full of traps and other dangerous magic attacks,” Leo responded. 

Nodding, the group moved forward. Having the best mana detection, Hei was the first one to enter. As they all got a little further in, finding themselves in a large open space, Hei stopped and closed his eyes as he concentrated. While he didn’t have the superhuman mana detection ability like Luck, Noelle new that he had a very high level of sensing. Just as she though this, Hei’s eyes snapped open as he looked behind to the rest of his team. 

“There are other people here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a filler chapter, not going to lie, hope you don't mind. I liked it though, I enjoyed fleshing out the relationships between the different characters. May have been a bit heavy-handed with Hei's jealousy, but let me know what you think of the interaction between the 6 members of this team. Next chapter will be a big one for the story, so look forward to it! Hopefully it will be up in a couple of days.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and leave a review on the way out if you can!


	6. Chapter 6

“Damn it, we were too late!” Leopold shouted. Noelle though had more concerns than just failing to reach the dungeon first. Was it the Diamond Kingdom, and would they have to face Mars and that weird smoke guy again? She wasn’t too worried if that was the case, they were strong, but not enough to be concerned about with the fire-power in their team. However, if they were different, then that would mean they were going in to this fight blind. Though she supposed that was how the rest of them felt anyway.

“Well, that just means we’ve got to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible right? If we hurry then we might be able to catch whoever else is hear before it’s too late,” Hei said, far too pleased by the current situation. 

“Leave that to me!” Mimosa said, as she activated her guiding spell. Noelle was happy with her magic, but sometimes wished it would have more applications than just combat like Mimosa’s. After a few seconds, the layout of the dungeon was revealed to them, and Noelle was relieved that it wasn’t that deep, and as such shouldn’t take that long for them to find out who they were up against.

“Good job Mimosa, now let’s get going,” Klaus said, forming a chariot of steel for the rest of them to get one. They immediately set off for the lowest level, thankfully, due to the fact they were flying, they managed to completely evade all of the magical traps in the dungeon.

Quicker than Noelle thought they would, they arrived in a dark corridor leading to what was the entrance to the lower level of the dungeon. With how dark the corridors were, the bright lights in the more open rooms made them impossible to see in, and as such Noelle wasn’t able to see what lied ahead out of the corridor. That wasn’t a problem for Hei though.

“There’s two of them out there,” Hei said confidently. 

“You sure?” Noelle questioned, and he nodded. Noelle really needed to get on with learning mana zone already. While the theory was something she had down, seeing as manipulating natural magic was all runes was, the application was much more difficult in reality. She could activate spells within a few meter radius of her, but had yet to manage to really advance it beyond that, and as such she hadn’t gotten any of the benefits that came with it, like the massive increase in mana detection.

“Let’s go then,” Leo said, a bit more subdued, though he still smacked a fist into an open palm to express his confidence, and in response everyone drew out their grimoires. They naturally formed an arrow head formation, with Hei at the front given he had the best sensing abilities, and as such would be able to react the quickest to any attack.

As they walked cautiously into the room, they heard the voices of the people they sensed. It was too far away still to be distinct, but the closer they got, the clearer it got, and Noelle noted that it was a male voice that was speaking. Finally they cleared the entrance, and after adjusting to the brightness, they took in the appearance of those in front of them. Once they did, Noelle’s heart stopped.

“Damn, you really can sense those swords out, huh Asta?”

Those words only further drilled it into Noelle, that in front of her were members of the Black Bulls, three she noted in the back of her mind, Hei’s sensing failing to pick up Asta. 

“Haha, it’s nothing Magna-senpai, it’s not really not something that I can control or anything,” Asta said as he scratched the back of head, a gesture so familiar it hurt.

“Ara, look at what we have hear you two, looks like some magic knights are here to play with us,” Luck said, catching the attention of the other two, and immediately the tension ramped up, Magna’s smile turning into a vicious scowl, and Asta getting a much more serious look on his face, though Luck’s psychotic smile was almost a relief to Noelle.

“Who are you people, are you Diamond Kingdom soldiers?” Leo questioned boldly.

“Nope, we’re like you guys, see?” Luck replied, as he pulled out his grimoire, the distinctive 3 leaf grimoire that almost every Clover Kingdom citizen received. Luck said the words with his typical cheer, but Noelle had spent enough time with him to know when he was genuine or not, and this was definitely the latter. The worry she was feeling only grew when a fiery aura began to grow around Magna.

“Then how did you get here? You aren’t apart of a magic knight squad, and only we were told by the Wizard King were to go. Besides there’s no way that non-magic knights should be able to clear a dungeon!” Leo continued his questioning, visibly getting more frustrated. Luck opened his mouth to answer, but Asta cut him off.

“We’re not here to answer to the magic knights. We got what we came here for, now let us go, or we’ll make you.” The words were said so harshly that Noelle couldn’t believe that she was hearing it with Asta’s voice. Whatever situation the Black Bulls were in in this world, Noelle would never have guessed that they were working against the magic knights - the Asta she knew lived to be one, as did many others. For him to speak so angrily at them, something was seriously wrong. Noelle had been thinking about this moment for months now, wondering what she would say when she was finally able to see the Black Bulls again. She knew there would be no emotional reunion for anyone but her, but she still imagined it would have been nice for her at least. Instead she wasn’t able to say a single thing. 

This situation was getting out of control fast, and the people on her current team weren’t exactly the type for diplomacy, though it wasn’t as if it wasn’t part of their mission to secure the whole dungeon, including whatever treasure Asta and the others had come for. The sword that could absorb magic, if she remembered right. Still though, Noelle really wasn’t in the head space to fight these people, and so she tried to deescalate.

“What was the item you took? Depending on what it is, we may be able to let you pass,” Noelle said, far more confidently than she felt. Her teammates looked at her like she was insane, but weren’t stupid enough to outright question her in front of a potential enemy. Noelle prayed they would explain it was an anti-magic sword - it would be entirely useless to anyone with an ounce of magic, so she was confident she could get them to go free if they made they effort. 

“Like I said, we’re not here to answer to the magic knights,” Asta responded, eyes locking with hers. Noelle could only hold them for a moment, before she had to look away.

“Well, we’re not going to just let you go, whatever treasures were found here belongs to the Clover Kingdom,” Hei said. While Hei had his own issues with nobles, he was undoubtedly proud of his position as a magic knight, and so wouldn’t take too kindly to disrespect.

That was enough for Magna, and he hurled out a fireball as soon as Hei had finished. Noelle instinctively raised a barrier of water, nullifying the flames, but as soon as the barrier was down, Luck appeared above them, clad in his lighting boots and gauntlets, and slammed a kick right in the centre of their group, scattering them. As Luck was about to launch at one on them, Hei activated his own ‘armour’, and intercepted Luck, clashing a sword against his gauntlet.

“This lightning guy is mine, you guys focus on the other two!” Hei shouted, as he and Luck disappeared and reappeared in sparks of blue electricity.

“Hahaha, in that case, Fana lets show this guy what real fire magic is!” Nodding her head in agreement, Fana and Leo quickly set off to isolate Magna.

“I can’t sense much mana coming from this guy, so I’m going to go and help Hei with that lightning magic user, you two should be able to handle this guy,” Klaus said as he darted off to try and help out Hei, leaving Noelle and Mimosa to deal with Asta. Noelle swallowed nervously as she looked at Asta. As far as she could tell, Mimosa still hadn’t unlocked any combat based spell, so it would be on her to beat Asta.

“If you’re not going to start, I’ll just come to you!” Asta yelled, and to her shock, as he withdrew his two swords from his grimoire, his right arm turned a pitch black, with red veins of energy flowing up it. Noelle hadn’t been able to talk with Asta much between joining for the attack on Spade and her subsequent defeat, but she did know what the black arm symbolised - his contract with his devil. If he already had that level of power with his anti-magic, Noelle wouldn’t be able to defeat him without resorting to some pretty extreme measures.

Correctly determining her as the stronger of the two, Asta jumped towards Noelle first, and she had to leap out of the way to avoid the attack. Any form of magical defence would fall apart against his sword, especially now that Asta was putting a higher level of anti-magic into his attacks. Launching a few water balls at him to gauge his reaction, Noelle watched unsurprised as he effortlessly ripped through the attacks. They had been each others main training partners in the Heart Kingdom, so Noelle knew well enough that straightforward attacks like that were basically pointless against Asta.

The only real way anyone could beat Asta is if you could outlast his body’s ability to handle anti-magic, something that became progressively harder the longer he trained it, or if you so thoroughly outmatched his physical stats you could get around his swords and attack him directly. Using Valkyrie Dress, Noelle could pretty easily handle Asta usually, but once he entered his Black form, the only way she had beaten him was if she outlasted him or outsmarted him. 

Keeping on the defence as she used reenforced legs to jump out of his way, Noelle waited to see if Asta actually had the ability he had before, or if it was just this one aspect of his power that was the same. If he could use Black form, Noelle probably couldn’t win, or at the very least, she would have to prepare herself for the fight of her life. If he couldn’t, Noelle would still have to use something more powerful than she had ever shown in this world to defeat him.

Thankfully, Asta was just as impatient as ever, and she could see he was quickly growing agitated with her dancing around, and he expressed it angrily to her.

“Is this how magic knight’s fight?! Just running around?” Asta yelled at her. While he was impatient as ever, the anger he had for someone he knew nothing about was something entirely different form her Asta. 

As she thought this, he did something that she did not expect. Planting himself firmly, his face scrunched up in concentration, and the anti-magic surrounding his sword slowly moved towards the top, and concentrated into what looked like a small black ball at the tip, before it quickly lashed out at her, looking like a black whip of anti-magic. Eyes widening in surprise, Noelle barely managed to lean back to avoid having her head taken off, as the whip-like attack cut clean through the magically reenforced stone wall behind her.

“Noelle!” Mimosa shouted in worry. Knowing Mimosa, Noelle knew how bad she must be feeling now, not being able to help her in this fight. She would talk to her later about it, but now she had to focus on Asta. Looking at Asta, Noelle almost breathed a sigh of relief. That last attack had clearly taken a lot out of him, as he had started panting, which was quite something for Asta, who barely ever got tired. While he seemed to have a far higher level of control than he did in her original world, Asta still seemed to lack a bit of stamina when it came to his body’s ability to handle anti-magic. That probably also meant that he couldn’t use Black form, which meant Noelle would be able to take him out without too much trouble, especially considering he didn’t seem to be able to control that level of anti-magic for very long. Maybe even easier than she had initially thought, as that last attack of his took far more out of him than what just swinging his swords around could do. Hardening her resolve, Noelle decided to end the fight now, and decide what to do with him later.

“Sea Dragon’s Roar!” Noelle shouted, as an enormous water dragon surged towards Asta. At full strength, Asta could cut through this attack even without Black form, but as tired as he was now, he wasn’t able to plant himself firmly enough to deal with the full weight of the attack, and though he did a good job of cutting through about half of the dragon, he was knocked back by the remainder of the attack. Walking over to him slowly, Noelle went to check on his condition, and from the corner of her eye she saw Mimosa join her as well.

To her surprise, he got to his knees, breathing hard, but clearly still conscious and ready to fight. Noelle really didn’t want to do more than she already had though. While she had casually hit him often enough, it was entirely different to fight like this, as real enemies. So she decided to attempt the impossible and convince Asta into giving up.

“You should really stop you know. It’s not like we’re going to try and do anything bad to you or anything, we just need to take this dungeon for our Kingdom. Besides, look around, your friends aren’t doing much better than you.”

That was true enough. To her left, Magna was unconscious, being tied up by the slightly singed pair of Fana and Leo. Magna was tough as anyone, and had a surprisingly strategic mind for making the most of his magic, but he was up against two people who had a combined amount of magic that was probably dozens of times his own, and inevitably he lost to the more powerful users of fire. Fana hadn’t even used Salamander.

On her right, Luck was actually fairing much better, though he was still in pretty bad shape. Hei was just as fast as Luck, and also had much more natural raw power. Klaus couldn’t really keep up directly, but had strategically used his steel magic to corner Luck, or force him to evade attacks which let Hei do the damage needed. He was still going, but it was clear it wouldn’t last much longer.

“So yeah, please don’t take this any further than it already has, we should be on the same side you know,” Noelle said, meaning what she said in more ways than one. She hated doing this, knowing what Asta’s spirit was like, but she thought she had the best chance of convincing him to back down if he knew nothing would happen to him or his friends.

“We’re never going to listen to you scumbags, no matter what it is you do to us, we will never give in to you magic knights!” Asta yelled up at her, voice hoarse. What really shook Noelle though was the deep hatred in his eyes. Asta had never looked at her like that, and it had always been her biggest fear, that one day Asta and the Black Bulls would look at her with those eyes of deep resentment, and it made her tremble on the spot.

Taking his chance, Asta leaped at her with his smaller and sharper sword, ready to cut her down. Eyes widening, Noelle froze for a moment, before desperately trying to scramble back. The moments hesitation was all Asta needed though as he quickly closed the distance between them. Closing her eyes, Noelle prepared for the feeling of being cut open, but to her surprise it didn’t come. Opening her eyes in confusion, Noelle looked to see why she hadn’t been hit, before a spray of blood covered her face. Eyes widening in horror, Noelle shrieked when Mimosa collapsed down in front of her, blood quickly pooling beneath her.

Looking up at Asta, Noelle saw he looked surprised by the action, seeing as the girl who had jumped in had yet to involve herself in the battle in any way. What made Noelle’s blood boil though was that there was no remorse in Asta’s eyes, and he looked up from Mimosa and back to Noelle, raising his sword once again to slash at her.

Instinctively wrapping herself in her Valkyrie armour, Noelle closed the distance between them before Asta could even react, and she punched him hard enough in the ribs that normally she would worry she had killed him, but this time she didn’t spare two seconds to control herself. As Asta rocketed back into the wall, unconscious, Noelle gently cradled Mimosa in her arms and examined the damage. The cut was deep and long, nearly going from her left shoulder to her right hip, and the bleeding was so bad Noelle knew it would be too late in a matter of moments. There was no time to think as she picked Mimosa up, yelled at Leo to complete the mission, and rocketed out of the dungeon, not bothering to find whatever route they had come in on, and simply blasted through the walls all the way out of the dungeon with a massive Sea Dragon's Roar.

As soon as Noelle cleared the dungeon and the mana became slightly more stable, she instantly drew in as much natural mana around her as she could, and formed them into runes commanding her Valkyrie armour to go faster and faster, until she was moving at speeds greater than she had even thought possible for her to do, as she flew toward the royal capital, cursing herself for her weakness when it mattered the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Dun! Asta and some of the Black Bulls have made their appearance, and as a reviewer guessed last time, they are indeed antagonists. For now. Anyway, how do you think it went? I sort of felt the reveal was a bit anti-climactic, but I couldn't really think of a reason to extend a whole extra chapter of them going through the dungeon just to leave off on the reveal, which is probably what I could have done to make it more dramatic. The black whip thing Asta used was like what he used against Dante in his berserk form, although obviously to a far smaller degree. As for the fight, they may be a bit boring, as Noelle is currently on a much higher level than her peers, but that won't be the case for ever, and power levels won't be the exact same as in canon. I feel with Noelle I haven't done that much for her in terms of showing weakness, so I feel that the end of the chapter had to happen that way, as I believe if Asta were to hate Noelle, that would probably break her given he was the one who bought her out of her sadness regarding her own family.
> 
> Anyway, as always, please leave a review, and thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Acier Silva was having a fairly normal day. Granted, it had begun with Nozel telling her that he would be sending Noelle on a dungeon capturing mission, and while that had caused some nerves, it was fairly normal practice for someone in Noelle’s position. Besides, Acier knew Noelle was strong enough for a dungeon, and if something went wrong, she would have Leo and the others for back up. Still though, she wished she could have seen Noelle off, it was her little one’s first big mission after all.

Regardless of that though, Acier was going about her day as normal. Now that Noelle had grown up and joined the magic knights, she had much less to do in terms of raising her family. As well as that, while she was happy to consult to Nozel, Fuegoleon or even Julius on important matters, she had retired several years ago from the magic knights, and she didn’t really feel the need to go back, even with an empty house. 

That being said, she was no where near the age of retirement, and so to fill her time, she had taken to advancing her knowledge in areas outside of her expertise, and had recently began working with Dr Owen as something of a nurse. While it was certainly an unorthodox career move, and the other members of the medical corps had to adjust to the famous former captain working alongside them, Acier enjoyed it very much.

She had been young and adventurous once too, thrilled by the prospect of missions, something she could see in Noelle, and Nozel to a certain extent, however that had been tempered by the cruel reality of her job. Her moniker of ‘Dancing Princess of the Battlefield’ was an elegant one, and she had even once felt pride in it, however now she was older and wiser, a mother of four grown children, and she had lost the part of her that allowed her to hurt so many people for the ‘greater good’. The work of a nurse was something she had always admired, her own magic incapable of healing magic, and so getting to help people in any capacity was a good feeling.

Her mundane day though came to an abrupt halt though, when one moment she felt the presence of Noelle’s magic at the very end of her considerable area of detection, and less than a blink later, the windows of the medical building shattered as Noelle flew in at horrendous speeds. For a moment she was mesmerised by the familiar Valkyrie armour, however this time it was a dazzling blue, and instead of it being on her body, it was cladding Noelle.

However, the moment was broken when she looked a bit lower, and she was horrified at the blood spilling down down on to the flower, all coming from her sweet niece, Mimosa.

“Help her!” Noelle screamed at them, not even registering her mother’s presence. Mimosa was a shockingly pale colour, and Noelle wasn’t looking much better, her face sheet white. Seeing all of the nurses start to panic, Acier steadied herself, and remembered the feeling of being in command of a group of scared, unsure people.

“Noelle, lay her down here,” Acier said sternly. Noelle was in no mood to fight and quickly moved to the table Acier had indicated, before gently laying Mimosa down.

“Step back now, and let the doctors deal with this. Everyone, stop the bleeding as much as you can, I will get Dr Owen immediately.” Despite being the least qualified medically, she had by far the most leadership experience, and everyone instantly followed her command. Spreading out her mana zone, Acier felt all of the people in the building. She could tell that they were scrambling around, no doubt scared and confused by Noelle’s dramatic entrance. However, she put that to the back of her mind, and quickly found Dr Owen, who was running up from the bottom of the tower.

However, he was going far too slowly, so for the first time in many years, Acier donned her own Valkyrie armour. Moving at similar speeds to Noelle, she quickly reached Dr Owen. He was clearly surprised by her sudden appearance, but she didn’t give him time to respond, as she grabbed him around the waist and shot up back to the room where Mimosa was.

After letting him go, he stumbled for a second, clearly not anticipating the sudden movement. However, he was a professional who had been involved in many difficult and strange cases, so once he saw people crowding around a body on the examining table, he regathered his composure and moved to take the lead on the operation. 

While Acier wanted more than anything to help her niece, she realised there were limitations to her abilities, and so for now could only wait and hope for the best. Releasing her spell, Acier looked at Noelle, and quickly realised there was something she needed to do. Noelle’s eyes were wide, tears streaming from them, and she was starting to hyperventilate. Moving over to her, Acier placed a hand on her armour clad shoulder, which made Noelle flinch. 

“Let’s give them space Noelle, right now we’ll only get in their way.”

Noelle nodded, and let her armour disappear as she was led out of the room. Once they got to a waiting area, Acier noticed people were still scrambling around, no doubt still concerned about what had caused all the windows to shatter. Clearing her throat, she informed them that everything was fine, and they should get back to work. On to more more important matters, Acier sat down with Noelle, and wrapped an arm gently over her daughters shoulder.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Acier asked softly. Noelle was struggling a bit, with her tears, but she nodded slowly.

“We got to the dungeon, but some people were already there, three of them,” Noelle started, “Once we met up with them, we started fighting, me and Mimosa against A-.“ Here Noelle choked up, hunching over herself and trying not to sob. Rubbing her back soothingly, Acier waited for Noelle to continue.

“We went up against this one guy with sword magic. We tried talking to him, but he wanted a fight. He was strong, but after using this weird energy attack, he got tired pretty quick, and I put him down with an attack. I tried talking to him, I didn’t want to fight!” At this Acier was taken aback by the vehemence in Noelle’s voice, as they locked eyes, Noelle desperate to convey her feelings. 

Acier was a bit surprised by how desperate she sounded, explaining that she didn’t want to fight. Acier had gotten the impression Noelle was pretty bored with the usual rounds of a magic knight, and the only other excitement that they got were from fights. For Noelle to be so passionate about it was a but strange, but not too unexpected. Everyone reacted differently to their first real experience with violence, and Noelle had always been her most gentle child, despite inheriting the most amount of power. 

That was why she had left the magic knight’s really. Nozel was old enough to ascend to the captains position, and once Noelle started trying more seriously with her magic when she was about 5 or 6, she was getting bullied quite badly by her older brother and other nobles, and even some of the staff treated her as lesser because of her poor control. It had always made her feel bad that her children were being raised without her being there full time, and when Noelle’s got more clingy to her instead of less as she was growing up, Acier found the thought of leaving her alone unbearable. Still though, Noelle had clearly grown up a lot over the past few months, and seemed pretty capable of handling the life of a magic knight. 

“I-I let my guard down, and when he tried to attack me, Mimosa jumped in the way, and got cut really badly. I knocked him out and then came straight here,” Noelle finished, burying her face in her knees to hide her tears. Acier frowned, torn between wanting to comfort Noelle, and being frank with her. As a magic knight, you could never let your guard down for reasons just like this. Gently prying her hands away from her eyes, Acier made Noelle look at her.

“Noelle, no matter what, you must know this isn’t your fault. The person who attacked is the one who did this to Mimosa. Mimosa also knows the danger of being a magic knight, and she wanted to protect you,” Acier explained, wiping at Noelle’s eyes.

“But I’m the stronger one, I should have been the one to protect her!” Noelle said back. Nodding, Acier continued.

“You two are family, of course it’s natural to want to protect one and other, but Noelle, you can’t have that mindset. Strong people need help from those around them all the time, you included. As well as that, I’m proud of you for trying to resolve issues without resorting to violence, it shows you have a good head on your shoulders, and you have a kind heart. That being said, you also must learn from this. You don’t know the mind of your enemies, and no matter how they may seem, they can always deceive you. From now on, make sure you fully restrain them before trying to resort words,” Acier said.

Noelle looked a bit lost. It probably wasn’t fair to try and hammer home this lesson now when her emotions were still so all over the place. Sighing, Acier stood up, and pulled Noelle to her feet too, before walking down to a room with a spare bed. 

“Anyway, there is nothing to be done now but wait. Why don’t you go and lie down, you look exhausted dear. Dr Owen is the best healing mage I know, and I’m sure he’ll be able to save Mimosa. I’ll come and get you when there’s an update ok?” Acier asked. Noelle looked like she was about to protest, before thinking better of it and nodded. Pulling back the covers, Noelle jumped in the bed, and curled up into a ball. Leaning down, Acier kissed her forehead, before walking out and closing the door gently. 

Walking back towards the room where Mimosa was, Acier was relieved to see that everything was significantly calmer than when she had left. Nurses were sweeping up the glass of the shattered windows, and Dr Owen had stopped using his magic, a sign that the healing was done. Walking over to them, she looked at Mimosa, who seemed to have regained a bit of colour from when she had last seen her.

“How’s she doing, Dr Owen?” Acier asked, as she took a hold of Mimosa’s hand. 

“Much better now. The cut she had was bad, and she had lost a lot of blood, however, my magic was able to close up the cut in no time, and we have a water mage who can transfer their own blood. However, I must say, if she received treatment any later, I doubt she would have survived. The Wizard King informed me that a group of young mages were going to capture a dungeon, so I was prepared for some injuries,” Owen said, before taking off his glasses and looking at Acier.

“But I must say, I was told the dungeon was by the boarder of the Diamond kingdom. Unless there was a spatial mage, there should be no way for mages of that caliber to travel all the way back here in time to save Mimosa from a wound of that severity. It’s a real miracle Noelle was able to use that Valkyrie armour of yours, because otherwise, this would not have ended well.”

Acier nodded at that, taking in the situation. The distance between the Diamond boarder and the capital was more than 100 miles. For Noelle to cover that distance, she would have been going several hundred, if not thousands, of miles per hour. It wasn’t out of the question, seeing as that speed was fairly standard for captains, and the Valkyrie armour was a spell that put her own speed a league above even that. However, for a 15 year old to move that fast with a spell they had just unlocked was truly remarkable. 

Noelle was doing things like that a lot though. In the exams, she had casually kept up with a boy enhancing his speed with lightning, and then beat him with a spell of tremendous power, despite never showing off the spell before. And now, she had unlocked the Valkyrie armour, her most high level combat technique. For Noelle to be reaching such heights at such an early stage in her journey as a magic knight was both incredible, but also concerning. Noelle was destined to be powerful, Acier knew that much, but she wasn’t a prodigy. She trained hard, and made slow but steady progress. For her to suddenly start acquiring new spells this rapidly was strange indeed. Maybe she was overthinking it though. Noelle had been in an incredibly high stakes situation, and it was fairly common for spells to manifest in times of great need.

Still though, Acier would have to reevaluate where Noelle stood power wise, and she had a good idea as to who could help her with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty quick update, hope you enjoy! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, a bit of a change with it coming from Acier's perspective instead, and I got to flesh out her character and relationship with Noelle a bit more. Next chapter, a few big players will make their debut, so hopefully I'll get that out soon.
> 
> I'm actually going to start writing it out now, as I have been really happy with the reviews that have been coming in. If you enjoy the faster updates, keep the reviews up, and I'll try keep the pace of chapters up too! As always thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Noelle woke up the next day slowly, physically and emotionally drained from the stress of the previous day. Once she came to her senses, she looked around and saw that light was coming through the curtains, meaning she must have slept through the night, which was surprising considering how worried she had been. Getting up, she walked through the door, and was comforted by the fact she could sense Mimosa, a strong and steady presence. 

Walking down the hall, she made her way into the room where Mimosa was staying in, and wasn’t surprised to find her mother was sleeping in the chair next to her bed. Mimosa’s own parents where very eccentric people from what she could remember, although they were both friendly enough. They tended to wander all over the place, enjoying the freedom that came with being royalty who weren’t integral to the running of a magic knights squad. Noelle remembered resenting her aunt a fair bit as a child, seeing as she was someone who could have been there for her, but never was. She supposed it was probably worse for Mimosa who didn’t have reliable parents at all, and was left with Kirsch, who had thankfully gotten all of the crazy genes, leaving Mimosa fairly normal. She was glad though that her mother cared for Mimosa though, and she could tell that they had been a much larger part of each others early life than they were in her own childhood.

Looking over her, Noelle was glad to see she looked pretty healthy, and there was no real scarring from what she could see, no doubt the work of Dr Owen. Thinking on how the wound occurred though, Noelle couldn’t help but want to cry again. Her mother was partially right to comfort her on the fact she felt at fault for Mimosa’s wound, but when she had said the person at fault was the one who tried to cut her, that only made her feel more and more sick. Asta was the one who tried to kill her, and would have killed both her and Mimosa if he had the chance.

She had seen him speak to Magna before he realised they were there, and he seemed so familiar she felt hope swell in her chest. She had no idea what could drive Asta to the point he was at now, where not only him, but the other Black Bulls were perfectly fine killing magic knights just to get their own way. He had shown their enemies way more compassion than what he had shown her and Mimosa. Not only that, but his apparent contract with the devil was concerning - after a defeat like the one she had given him, he would no doubt train harder than ever to get stronger. 

Though saying that, there was a possibility they had been captured. Magna was down for the count when she had left, and there wasn’t a chance Asta was getting up after what she had done to him. Luck was tricky, but against four powerful mages even he would get beat. In that case there was a possibility she would be seeing them again sooner rather than later. Shaking her head, she resolved to find her other team mates and ask them what happened later.

“Oh, you’re up. Are you feeling better Noelle?” Acier asked, startling Noelle from her thoughts. Acier was looking up at her, apparently awoken by her entrance.

“Yeah, much better thanks. I’m just relieve that Mimosa is doing good,” Noelle answered truthfully. 

“That’s a relief, I was worried you were being too harsh on yourself. Dr Owen said that Mimosa is fine, but will need a lot of rest to make up for the loss of blood. You should go and clean yourself up now, because I’m sure you’ll have a busy day. From what I can gather, you’ll be meeting with the Wizard King himself today, so go prepare yourself. I’ll look after Mimosa while you complete your mission report.”

Nodding, Noelle agreed and went to clean herself up. She hadn’t really noticed before, but her arms were covered in blood. Thankfully the medical building wasn’t too far from the palace, and so after a quick shower and change of cloths, Noelle was presentable again.

Noelle wasn’t too sure about the time that she was supposed to report to the Wizard King, but she had nothing better to do, so better to be early than late. As she made her way through the building, she heard people muttering under their breaths. She supposed she had made a rather eventful return last night, so it was no surprise really that the shallow members of the court would talk about her.

As she reached the waiting room for the Wizard King’s office, Noelle was pleasantly surprised to find the rest of her team from yesterday standing in the waiting area too. Once they noticed she arrived, they all sprung to their feet, with Fana coming over to wrap her up in a hug.

“Noelle, we were so worried! You just blasted off so fast, and we didn’t know what was going on!” Fana said as she buried her face into her neck. Again, Noelle felt a strange comfort from hugging the elf girl, and so returned the hug, apologising for worrying them. Looking up, she could see Leo bouncing around her and Fana like a puppy, clearly wanting to do something but not really sure what. Hei was looking at her strangely, but before he said anything, Klaus stepped forward.

“How is Mimosa? We were told she was in good health, but we were unable to see her?” Klaus said, none of his usual pomp in his voice. It made her happy that he was still more or less the same guy; beneath his cold appearance he cared deeply for his friends.

“She’s doing fine now, she just needs time to rest for now. Anyway, sorry that I left you guys, but how did the rest of the mission go?” Noelle asked, suddenly anxious to find out what happened with the Black Bulls when Leo frowned.

“We managed to secure the dungeon but those guys got away. We had got the fire mage, and the guy you were fighting wasn’t getting up any time soon, nice job by the way. We were getting close to taking down the lightning one, but he had a buddy ready to bail them out. Some spatial mage I guess, because he was in and out before we could get anything out of them about who they were.”

As a magic knight, Noelle should have been angry that their potential enemies escaped. However, she couldn’t help but feel relieved. She wasn’t ready to face them right now, and she suspected it would be some time before she could adjust to the fact that the Black Bulls were potentially going to be enemies from now on. Instead of responding, Noelle only nodded, and the group waited in a strained silence as they waited to be called in. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long.

“Thank you for waiting, the Wizard King will see you now,” Marx said, ever the faithful servant. As they walked in, Noelle looked at the Wizard King, suddenly aware of how tall he was. The last time she had seen him, he was a 13 year old kid even smaller than her, but now once again he was a man who seemed larger than life.

“Hello there! Glad you could make it, it’s nice to meet you, some of you for the first time!” Julius said, just as exuberant as ever. Saluting back at him, none of them really felt comfortable enough to meet his enthusiasm, even Leo. Looking around, Noelle thought that everyone looked kind of star struck. Julius was well known as the most powerful mage in the kingdom, perhaps even the continent, stronger than even the elf leader Patry. Noelle knew the man’s true nature though, a magic nerd who seemed open and friendly, but really was thinking 2 steps ahead. She liked him enough, and he was always friendly to her, but he wasn’t someone she looked up to like Mereoleona or even Fuegoleon. 

“Now, I heard you guys had quite the mission. I’m sorry about that, normally we try to limit combat with unknown enemies as much as possible, especially with younger mages. But you all did well, and no one was hurt beyond repair. You did well especially, Noelle, to save your cousin,” Julius said seriously, before suddenly looking at he with stars in his eyes,”Is it true you have a water version of you mothers armour?! I’d love to see it, Acier-senpai’s was always amazing to watch!” Noelle was a but surprised to hear him refer to her mother as a senior. She looked younger than him for one, but he was also her superior as a magic knight. She supposed at one point though, her mother would have been a captain before him, so it made sense. She was a bit uncomfortable with the question though, as she still held herself most at fault for the injury to Mimosa in the first place, but thankfully Marx scolded him, and got him back on track.

“Anyway, sorry about that. I’d like to hear a report on the mission you completed. Klaus, your the most senior member of the squad, so please explain.”

Klaus looked taken aback by the fact the king even knew his name, but cleared his throat and composed himself, before telling Julius about the mission. By the time Klaus had finished his recap, Julius had a sad smile on his lips.

“So you fought some of are own citizens then? That is truly unfortunate. Unfortunately, there are many groups domestically that are unhappy with their lot in life. To be honest, I can sympathise with them somewhat, though of course it is unacceptable to attack a fellow citizen,” Julius said gravely.

“Then you don’t know what group those guys are affiliated to?” Noelle asked suddenly. Julius looked at her a bit surprised, before shaking his head.

“Unfortunately from the information you’ve given me, I can’t pin them down. Like I said, there are several groups with some issue or another with our kingdom. The sword mage though is unusual, from what you’ve told me, he was able to trace a specific magic item as soon as the dungeon appeared. I’ll try putting resources into identifying that boy, then hopefully we can find whatever groups they’re from.”

“Anyway, I would like to formally congratulate you on the success of this mission. Many others in your shoes would have failed, so I am very impressed with your performance. I will be looking forward to watching your careers closely, and I’ll be sure to let your captains know of your success,” Julius finished, smiling at them. Once again, everyone seemed to be floored by the generous compliments from such a famous man. 

After that, they were dismissed, and immediately Fana started raving about him.

“He really is amazing, that Wizard King! He was super nice, but according to Patry-san, he was even more powerful than him!”

“I know right! My older brother is the strongest man I know, but he says he can’t hold a candle to him!” Leo said right back. There must be some link between volume and fire magic, because Noelle had yet to meet a single calm mage with the fire attribute.

“Noelle, I’m going back to the base now. I’ll see you later,” Hei said. He had been unusually quiet, but she had figured it was because he was like that around new people. Apparently he had no issues speaking up, and rudely at that.

“S-sure, I’ll see you later,” Noelle replied, and after getting a nod in response, he quickly stalked off in the general direction of the Silver Eagles base.

“Man what’s his problem? Talk about a lone wolf,” Leo complained, getting nods from the others.

“Well he’s probably just tired now. I am too, I was about to go home anyway,” Noelle replied, trying to defend her squamate.

“Oh is that right, well I’ll come with you then, I need to head home anyway. Want to come with?” Leo asked Fana and Klaus. Fana nodded, gleefully talking to Noelle about sleeping over like old times, but Klaus looked mortified at the thought of going to the royal palace, and quickly declined. The walk over was lively, Fana and Leo bouncing off each other well, and she felt her self loosen up properly for the first time since they were sent on the mission. 

Walking on the front entrance, they were met with a grand staircase. Once up the first flight of stairs, there were three different directions to go. If you walked straight, you would go to the Kira family home, seeing as they were the main family. Left took you to another flight of stairs that led to there Vermillion home, and right took you the way of the Silva home. However, before they could make their way up the staircase, they heard footsteps coming fro the tight side. Noelle wasn’t sure who it was, but there were very few members of her family who she actually liked, so she tensed up, ready for an uncomfortable meeting.

However, Noelle let out a breath as she saw her mom make her way down instead of some other family member.

“Oh, you’re back already? That makes this easier, now I don’t have to go and find you!” Acier said to Noelle, smiling happily. That was certainly ominous.

“What is it that you need mom?” Noelle asked hesitantly. However before she responded, more footsteps continued to come down from the right side. Before she could say anything more, she was startled by the sight of a tall women with wild red hair and fierce eyes.

“Sister!” Leo shouted happily, running over to her.

“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you brats,” Mereoleona responded with her typical smirk, ruffling Leo’s hair roughly, but affectionately. Before anything more was said though, her eyes shifted for Leo to Noelle, and her smirk only increased in ferocity. This could only mean trouble for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Or not. Most of you successfully guessed that it was Mereoleona Acier was referring to last time, which is fine, I wasn't exactly going for subtlety, though I hope no one is too upset that it was pretty straightforward. I really like Noelle with Mereoleona in the series, and their connection to Acier is something that I'll be glad to explore more here. Next time we'll get Noelle and Mereoleona's little battle, among other things.
> 
> As always, please leave a review, and thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Standing in the vast garden of the royal palace, Noelle wondered what she had done to deserve this. Across from her, looking far too eager for her taste, stood a grinning Mereoleona, arms crossed, awaiting an attack from her. 

“Noelle, I know it’s quite sudden, but why don’t you spar with Mereoleona? You seem to have improved a lot since the last time we trained together, and I know Mereolona would love to test you,” her mother had said, smiling as though she wasn’t sending her daughter to an inevitable beating. From there, despite her protests, she was shuffled out into the training area, with Leo, Fana and her mother standing on a terrace above.

“Well, are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to make me come to you?” Mereoleona shouted. This made Noelle jump a bit, as she had been lost in her thoughts about how to approach this. She had never really seen Mereoleona fight, but from what she had gathered from Asta, she was crazy powerful, maybe even more so than Yami. If that was the case, she really would need to go all out just to keep up.

“I got it! Sea Dragon’s Roar!” It was sent at about half strength, and was just used to get a reaction. Against most fighters, she would start with a water ball, but this was a different level of mage, and she was proven right when two massive paws of fire clamped her dragon’s mouth shut, before a flaming fist promptly evaporated the powerful spell.

“If that’s all you got, no way your mom would go to the trouble of having me test you! I already told you, if you're not going to fight, I’ll come for you instead!” That was all the warning Noelle got before Mereoleona disappeared from her line of sight, and she felt a burning heat behind her.

On instinct, Noelle dived away as fast as possible, only just saving herself from the devastating punch thrown her way, and she felt sweat start to dip down her forehead when she noticed the crater caused by Mereoleona. She really was a walking natural disaster.

People knew she had Valkyrie armour now, which is likely the reason for this test, so she may as well use it. Besides, she had wanted to test herself against Mereoleona anyway, to show how much she improved from their first meeting, and even if this was a different version, she still felt that desire. Wrapping herself in the armour, she was able to react to the follow up attack sent at her much better than the initial one, and she quickly darted out of range by flying high above.

“Oh, you really do look like your mother with that armour. But if you think flying away is going to help, you’ve got another thing coming!” With that Mereoloena launched herself into the sky, aiming for Noelle with a flaming fist. Dodging the attack, she was unsurprised when Mereoleona seemed to bounce off of thin air, redirecting herself mid air. If hadn’t had experience with mana zone users, she may have been caught off guard enough for the attack to land, but she was prepared for it, and using the manoeuvrability granted to her by the armour to slip the punch by the barest of margins, before stunning everyone there by smacking Mereoleona with her lance, which sent her flying back to the floor. She landed on her feet, but was clearly not anticipating any real resistance. The surprise didn’t last long however, and the usual savage grin returned with a vengeance, sending a chill up Noelle’s spine.

“Looks like I can take this a bit more seriously than I had thought.” 

Once again Noelle had to avoid the straightforward attack from Mereoleona, however before she could counter attack, she quickly formed a sea dragon’s lair to defend from an attack from behind her. It seemed Mereoleona was taking advantage of mana zone more fully now, as she had sent a ball of fire at her blind spot. She had managed to defend it, but the intensity of the heat evaporated her spell. Before she could try anything else, Mereoleona was already on her, and all Noelle could do was bring her arms up in an ‘x’ shape in front of her chest to defend from the strike thrown her way. This time it was Noelle’s turn to be launched from the sky, and she also managed to land on her feat, though far more unsteady than when Mereoleona landed.

Noelle quickly realised that this was about the limit she could show for now. From this exchange, Noelle could already tell that without resorting to either runes or ultimate magic, she probably couldn’t compete much more with Mereoleona. The mana zone granted too fast a reaction time, and despite being a melee fighter, allowed for anyone to fight at range, attacking from the opponents blindspot. It was a really difficult technique to get around. 

She had developed a spell in Heart called Sea Dragon’s Tower though, which was made for the sole purpose of allowing herself to use her mermaid form without Loropechekia’s help, which would definitely help against Mereoleona, as it basically trapped you in a large pillar of water, though it was not as large scale as what she had fought in against Vanica. However, she didn’t really want to show that off yet, seeing as without being willing to use her mermaid form, she didn’t really think she could force Mereoleona to stay in the spell, and it would once again draw attention towards her, as it was a spell that had taken her a long time to master the first time round.

So for now, Noelle was content to show this much power. It was still way more than anyone her age had, and frankly more than the majority of magic knights. But it wasn’t enough to go at it with a mage like Mereoleona, who was strong enough to beat most captains. 

Still though, she wanted to make a good showing of herself. After taking a few more heavy hits from Meereoleona, Noelle could tell she probably couldn’t take too much more direct damage, so she prepared herself for one last attack. Timing it as well as she could, Noelle waited for the attack to come. As always, Mereoleona attacked directly, not having any fear for the power coming back at her. However, Noelle managed to catch her off guard for a second time that day, as instead of dodging like she had been doing, she instead allowed for the attack to hit her directly. As she had hoped though, the initial attack from Mereoleona was weaker, no doubt not bothering to put as much mana into it as the others, seeing as her initial rushes had not been able to hit Noelle yet. The lower power of the attack meant that she wasn’t instantly knocked out, and she took the opportunity to clamp down with all her strength on Mereoleona’s outstretched arm, before putting a huge chunk of her remaining magic into her next attack.

“Sea Dragon’s 0-Range Roar!” Noelle yelled, as a huge dragon swallowed up Mereoleona, far more powerful than the one she had used against Hei in the exams. Given the jaws had already surrounded her as the spell formed, Mereoleona wasn’t able to use her typical defence on projectile spells, and was swept up in the attack, being sent hurtling towards the ground, and the spell buried it’s way surprisingly deep into the ground, at least 6 or 7 meters down, and probably more than twice as wide as it was deep.

However, she was unsurprised, if slightly disappointed when the spell was turned into a pillar of steam, as Mereoleona emerged from the crater mostly unscathed, and not even wet, the heat from her magic instantly drying her off. Removing her Valkyrie armour, Noelle dropped to the ground, panting from her first real work out since waking up in this world. She had assumed she was the same as she was in her past life, but she could tell from this experience that she was physically in far worse shape, and though her spells had all remained, she noticed her magic wasn’t quite as potent as it had been. These were things that would improve as her body matured fully, and if she could make it to 18 this time round, would become even more powerful than in her first life, but for now, her younger body was overall a bit weaker than she had originally assumed.

“You tapping out now then?” Mereoleona asked as she walked over to her. Noelle nodded in response, a little disheartened. She was broken out of her little pity party though when she felt the familiar feeling of warmth on her head, as Mereoleona stuck her fist out to her forehead, making her look up.

“Don’t look so miserable, it’s been a long time since someones made me actually bleed.” 

Noelle looked surprised at that, before noticing that the arm she had clamped on to was in fact cut in some places, a light stream of blood dripping down her arm, and the sleeve from that arm completely ripped off. It was more damage than she had been expecting, and it was good to know she could still do some damage to more powerful mages.

“You’ve definitely improved greatly since the last time I saw you, though anything is an improvement from then, you could barely look at me from behind your mothers skirt.”

Noelle blushed, a bit embarrassed. She had been shy as a child, and she had her own memories of avoiding the intimidating fire mage whenever she happened to be in the capital. Of course, whenever Mereoleona actually chose to see her, she found her with ease, mostly just to tease her and roughhouse her a bit. Looking back at it, she had probably been trying to look after her in her own way, seeing as that was how she interacted with Leo to this day, but nevertheless she had been, and still is, a scary woman.

“But you know, you do a good job of pretending to hold back,” Mereoleona said, leaning in a bit closer so only Noelle could hear. Eyes wide, Noelle could only watch as she smirked again, before walking off, probably to go get her arm patched up. Before she could say any more, she was blindsided by a screaming Leo and Fana, both of them gushing over how she had done so well against the woman widely considered to be the strongest fire mage in the kingdom. Noelle barely paid them any mind though, too stunned by the fact she had been found out so easily. Looking up at the terrace, she saw Acier talking with Mereoleona, both of them seeming calm enough, but still, Noelle felt it was only a matter of time before some serious questions were going to be asked of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few explanations for this chapter. Noelle is actually weaker than she was in her last life. My interpretation of the power system is you have a very set amount of mana, which can't be changed. You can improve your control to make the most of it, but the actual quantity can't be changed. However, I'm saying here that the quality of it can be, e.g. a fire mage like magna will never be able to fling around huge fire balls at will, but he can up the heat of his flames, and cause more damage. It took fighting someone stronger to make Noelle realise her power is actually weaker than it had been, even if she has the mana to perform the spells. Also I dropped a name for a spell I made up for Noelle, Sea Dragon's Tower. Basically, I just had it put in here because at some point she will use the mermaid form, so I want people to know how I plan for that to be done, and I also kind of think she will have a similar spell in canon, as it would be pretty unfortunate if her biggest upgrade from the timeskip was something she could only use with someone else's help. Next time, we'll see what Asta and the Black Bulls are up to!
> 
> Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and please review if you have the time!


	10. Chapter 10

Asta woke with a groan, the morning light too bright, and a constant, dull pain in his ribs made his morning an uncomfortable one to say the least. Opening his sleep-crusted eyes, he blinked to adjust to the harsh sun, before he managed to slowly sit up. Rubbing his eyes he looked around the familiar room. The Black Bulls often got themselves in trouble, and so Yami had allocated a room specifically for injured people, with a storage unit holding whatever bandages or ointments that happened to be lying around.

“Why am I here again?” Asta pondered aloud, unsurprised when he didn’t get a response. The last thing he remembered was talking to Liebe about the appearance of a dungeon with one of his grimoires swords in it, and then…

Gasping, Asta jumped of bed, before immediately doubling over in pain, as the dull pain he felt turned crippling at his quick movement, That wasn’t important though, now he had to check on the rest of his team. Stumbling through the winding and ever changing corridors of the Black Bulls base, Asta tried to find a source of ki, but with his mental and physical condition so compromised, he ended up aimlessly walking through the base. Thankfully, the medical room was never moved too high up, and fairly quickly he heard voices coming from the main hall, and he rushed into it, loudly opening the doors.

“Everyone, are you alright!” Asta shouted, not even bothering to look at what was going on. The hall quickly silenced as everyone looked over at him. Quickly scanning over them, he saw no one was missing - well none that weren’t normally missing - and everyone looked uninjured. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he grunted in pain as he was surrounded by the other members.

“You’re finally up Asta!” Vanessa said, pulling him into her scantily clad chest, as Finral, Magna and Luck all surrounded him too, pulling and tugging at various places, all expressing some degree of relief he was doing well in their own ways.

“G-g-g-guys, I think you’re hurting him!” Gray said, before shyly hiding her face behind her hands. It seemed to do the trick as he was let go, and he panted, struggling to catch his breath. After he managed to get his breath back, he went back to his questions.

“Finally? How long have I been out for?” Asta asked. He was feeling pretty rough still, so he thought he probably didn’t have too much time to heal up.

“Well, you came back from that dungeon on Tuesday afternoon, and it’s Sunday morning now, so about 4 and a half days I guess?” Vanessa replied, looking thoughtful. 

‘Nearly 5 days!’ Asta thought, shocked. He’d always healed fast, and had never been unconscious for more than a whole day, despite taking some pretty horrendous beatings.

“You should thank Gray for healing you, if not for her magic, you’d be dead, no doubt about it,” Yami said, still reading his newspaper, and barely any inflection in his voice to hint at weather he cared or not that one of his supposed juniors had nearly been killed. Still though, despite his shock, he turned to thank Gray.

“Thank you Gray-senpai!” Asta shouted, bowing at the waist. 

“I-it’s nothing, I could only fix you to the point of not being in danger of dying, so-sorry if you’re still in pain Asta,” Gray said. Before he could respond, Gauche cut in.

“Tch, you’re really worthless you know, Gary used up all her magic fixing your sorry ass,” Gauche snapped. Asta was starting to feel a bit bad, before Vanessa piped up.

“That’s right, Gray gave it her all to help you Asta, so much so she passed out after making sure you’re life wasn’t in danger. Gauche over there was out of his mind with worry, and didn’t let her near you again as punishment for making her over do it,” Vanessa cut in, a teasing smile pointed at Gauche.

“As if I care about any of that, you slutty witch,” Gauche muttered, blushing, before pretending to look at a picture of Marie. Vanessa only laughed in response, as Gray also turned a mortified shade of red.

“Anyway, we’ve been keeping you drugged up for these past few days to let you heal naturally, but it seems you’re too hard headed for that. Not that I’m surprised,” Vanessa explained, ruffling his hair. That explained why he was still feeling pretty groggy. 

“Well, thanks again for healing me up, I really would have been done without you guys saving me huh? Anyway, Luck, Magna-senpai, what happened after I got knocked out?”

“Well, after you two blew it, I was the only one left standing. I don’t really know why, but that water girl flew off before I could tell what was going on, so it was just me against four mages. They were pretty tough, but Finral interrupted before I could fight them,” Luck complained.

“Interrupted? I saved you!” Finral shouted, annoyed at the lack of respect. The two started to bicker, Magna also butting in about Luck saying he blew it, but Asta was lost in thought at the mention of the water mage he fought.

“I’m definitely going to go after that water mage though, if she could beat Asta that badly, I bet she’d be a fun fight~” Luck said.

“If she could Asta that badly, you don’t have much better chances Luck,” Vanessa said seriously, “Still though, I want to get my hands on her too for what she did to Asta.”

“She didn’t want to fight us,” Asta cut in. The bickering stopped at that, and everyone looked at him, waiting for an explanation.

“It was different from any of the other magic knights I’ve seen, they always wanted to stamp down on us, use their power to make us do what they want. Even the group she was with, they all expected us to obey just because they’re magic knights, and were happy to fight. I could tell from her ki though, she didn’t want a fight.” Everyone paused for a moment as they let that sink in.

“Now that you mention it, she was willing to let us go, even if we took an item from the dungeon, as long as it wasn’t harmful to the Clover Kingdom,” Luck said thoughtfully.

“Still though, didn’t stop her from caving your chest in. If she didn’t want a fight that bad, why not just leave,” Magna fired back, scowling.

“I killed her friend.”

Once again, the room was silenced. For the past few days, they had been riling each other up over what they would do once they got their hands in the person who nearly killed their friend, but to hear she had only done so in reaction to Astra’s attack took the wind from all of their sales. They hated the magic knight organisation, the structure of power that made those born with less powerful magic second class citizens, but they all understood that there were plenty of decent individuals within that organisation, even if there were more who abused their power, and if they took their bias out of it, they realised only getting injured wasn’t much of a price to pay for killing someone.

“I didn’t try to kill her friend - I was going for her. That’s not really any better, I shouldn’t kill someone who isn’t trying to kill me, but she was strong. I could tell, she beat me without even trying, it was like she knew every move I was going to make before I made it. She let her guard down after I went down, and I was fired up anyway that we were fighting magic knights, and I thought if I could take her down, she couldn’t hurt any of you guys but -“

“Asta,” Yami cut in, just as Asta was beginning to ramble, “You don’t need to explain yourself. We know you’re a good person. But also, learn from this. Don’t pick fights you can’t win. Definitely don’t go back into a fight with someone who doesn’t want to fight you after they’ve already beaten you. I get you were thinking about you’re squad, which is good, but by the sounds of it, you didn’t need to fight that girl, did you?” Asta could only shake his head no.

“That goes for all of you. I know we don’t work well with the magic knights, but I’ve told you before right? I’ve met plenty decent magic knights, and you shouldn’t go crazy at the sight of them. Make your minds up about what to do on a case by case basis, If you treat them as all the same, we’re really not better than they are.”

Everyone nodded at that, some less happy than others, but all of them nonetheless agreeing with their captain.

“Right well, in that case, I’m going to go for a dump. Asta, don’t over do it, you’ve only just gotten up. Also, was the person you attacked definitely dead?” Yami questioned suddenly. Asta couldn’t be sure, but he remembered cutting deep enough that the person would definitely bleed out if not for emergency treatment. Telling Yami that, he nodded and responded, “Then don’t beat yourself up about it too much. If they could move fast enough that Luck couldn’t track them, then there’s a pretty good chance they made it to a doctor in time to heal them, ok?” Asta nodded, uncertain, but preferring that answer to the one where he’d have to feel guilt over killing an innocent person. 

Yami left, and the usual volume returned to the base pretty quickly, everyone trying to act as normal. Asta though couldn’t and kept thinking about the girl he had fought. The more he started thinking about it, the stranger it was. Her ki was all over the place, but she moved effortlessly to get out of his sword strikes, as though it was muscle memory. She also clearly got upset when he talked, and was so clearly holding back he couldn’t help but feel annoyed someone his own age outclassed him to such a degree, but also fascinated that she seemed so familiar with him.

“You need to train your muscles less, and get used to anti magic more,” Liebe said in his head, making him jump, “There’s a limit to the body, and my power can help you go far beyond that, and crush that girl.” Liebe continued, annoyed by his partners inability to fully utilise his power.

Asta nodded, but even Liebe couldn’t really get through to him. For now, he’d just have to recover, but Asta was sure he would be seeing that girl again at some point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad I got this out tonight, I was sort of struggling with motivation to write, but I got a big burst today, so here we are! Not much to say on this, not everything about the Black Bulls has been explained, but quite a lot of info has been dropped so hopefully you enjoy!  
> Next chapter we're back to Noelle and more royal family interactions coming!
> 
> As always, hope you liked it, and please tell me what you think if you can!


	11. Chapter 11

After her fight with Mereoleona, Noelle was understandably feeling very tired. As well as that, she was anxious about what she was told at the end of her fight. It would almost definitely get back to Acier that Mereoleona thought she was holding back in their fight and that would only get her mother to be more suspicious. However, she was able to thankfully avoid speaking to anyone for the rest of the day, using the fact she was genuinely exhausted as an excuse. Despite her worry, she was able to get a fairly restful night of sleep.

The next day, Noelle once again managed to escape confrontation, leaving early in the morning to go and see Mimosa. Arriving at the medical facility, Noelle tried to compose herself. She was still feeling immense guilt for letting Mimosa take a nearly fatal blow, and if Mimosa was awake, she didn’t want to break down in tears while begging for forgiveness. 

Once she arrived at her room, she gently opened the door, only to be surprised when she wasn’t the first one to arrive. Sat on the bed next to her, Kirsch was gently holding her hand. It was the most somber and quiet she had ever seen the most eccentric of the Royal family, which only made her feel worse. Once he noticed she was coming in though, he quickly jumped up, and let out a typical over the top sentence.

“Oh Noelle! How good of you to come visit your dear cousin so early!” He exclaimed, body moving with his typical flair. Noelle was getting more and more sure that the royal families were much more connected than they had been in her first life. The way Leo had reacted to her, and now Kirsch, was far more familiar than it had been. She’d guess Acier was the lynchpin in that, having a connection to both Vermillion families, either as a mentor or as an aunt. Still though, he was far too loud for this time in the morning, and so with a grimace she responded.

“Be quiet will you? You’re too loud,” Noelle commanded. Kirsch had always been sort of easy for her to shout at, unlike all the other older royals. He wasn’t unkind generally, even if he was a narcissist, and he didn’t get upset at anyone for criticising him, unless he deemed them beautiful too. Still though, it was a weight off her shoulders that Mimosa’s brother didn’t seem to be mad at her for the state she was in. Just as Kirsch was about to respond, they heard a groan from the bed, and the two snapped their heads back in Mimosa’s direction.

“You’re so loud Kirsch,” Mimosa complained, glaring at him through half lidded eyes. It was always strange to see the normally sweet Mimosa speak to anyone so scornfully, especially given it was her brother. He didn’t seem to get bothered by it though, and as usual, took the complaint in stride.

“Already up Mimosa~ I knew a little scratch like that couldn’t keep my beloved little sister down for long,” Kirsch said as he spun his way back to her side. It was kind of sweet that he didn’t want her to see how worried he had been about her, and kept up his usual behaviour for her benefit, in Noelle’s opinion.

“What even happened…” Mimosa said, before breaking off into a yawn. Noelle stiffened a bit at that, before making her presence known.

“Mimosa, do you not remember? We were on a mission in the dungeon,” Noelle prompted. Mimosa sat up slowly, before her eyes suddenly widened.

“The mission! That’s right, we met those guys in the dungeon, then we fought them, well you fought them,” Mimosa said sadly. Noelle was about to say something, but Mimosa continued.

“And then, I remember seeing him try to hit you, and then… well here.”

Noelle wasn’t too surprised that Mimosa didn’t remember the aftermath of her injury, given she had passed out almost as soon as she was struck. Still though, Noelle knew it could be quite distressing to have patches of memories gone, so she filled Mimosa in.

“I let my guard down, you saved me Mimosa, and took the hit for me.” Mimosa looked a bit surprised at that bit of information, before looking away.

“Well, at least I was able to do something.” Once again, Noelle noted how upset she seemed at her lack of involvement in combat. Mimosa had confided in her that she was glad to receive training in Heart, because it meant she could finally become someone reliable in combat, and that she had always wished she was stronger. Once again, Noelle tried to say something to assure Miimosa it was fine, but she was beaten to the punch by Kirsch.

“Mimosa,” Kirsch said seriously, drawing everyone’s attention to him, “Don’t downplay your role. If everyone was a combat specialist, the core of our teams would fall apart. Being a support mage is something to be proud of, and I know you played your role in the mission by navigating through the dungeon. Take pride in that, and the fact you saved your teammates life.” 

It was as serious as Noelle had ever seen him, and the same was probably true for Mimosa, given she could only look at him in stunned silence. She didn’t really know what to say by the looks of it, so Noelle finally got a word of support in too.

“That’s right Mimosa. You made the mission go as smoothly as possible, and it was my mistake which got you hurt. So don’t you dare think you need to do anything stupid like that again, ok?”

Mimosa seemed to be getting a bit overwhelmed, not really a surprise given she had only just woken from a pretty serious injury, and so she simply nodded to tell them she understood. After that, the two stayed for a little while more, Noelle explaining her terrifying encounter with Mereoleona, much to Mimosa’s evident amusement. The two couldn’t stay too long though, as they had their own duties to attend to with their respective squads, and so with a promise to visit later, they made their way out of the medical area.

“You shouldn’t beat yourself up about the mission either Noelle, things happen that are out of our hands, and all we can do is adjust,” Kirsch said. Noelle was once again freaked out by just how serious and, well, normal he was being. She supposed almost experiencing the death of a sibling would shake anyone. As well as that, it was easy to forget Kirsch was a vice-captain, who essentially worked as the captain, and so had far more experience than his young age would suggest. He was only a year older than Solid, and yet was far more powerful, despite coming from arguably the weakest line of royals. Still, Noelle had been given the pep talk before, and so nodded to let him know she understood. 

“Not only that, but from what I hear you’ve gotten quite the new spell, which saved Mimosa,” Kirsch continued, “Aunt Acier has always had the most beautiful magic, other than myself of course, and yours has always been the most hideous among us royals. Hopefully you won’t be as unsightly anymore.”

There was the usual Kirsch. Feeling a vein throb in her forehead, she flung a glob of water at his face. Kirsch elegantly spun out of the way, before lamenting how his beauty was being brought down by her gloom, and then hopping on a cloud of sakura blossoms, he flew off to the base of the coral peacocks, telling her to be more like her mother or brother.

Huffing, Noelle watched him go. He was always so difficult to deal with, no matter what kind of mood he was in. He had the right idea though, as it was getting to the time she needed to report in to the Silver Eagles. The formality of other magic knight squads was taking some getting used to, but Noelle wasn’t too bothered by it. The routine had given her something to think of beside her unbelievable predicament.

The Silver Eagles HQ was very central, close to the royal palace and medical tower, and so it didn’t take long to arrive at the base. Once she walked in, the whispers immediately started following her. They had been dying down gradually as people got more used to her presence, however it seemed their dungeon mission had become fairly common knowledge in the past couple of days, which wasn’t too surprising given how many people had been a witness to her flying through the capital.

She really had no interest in the gossip at all though, and so made her way to the check in point, while also keeping an eye out for Hei. He had seemed a bit down the last time she had seen him, so she hoped he was back to normal now. She couldn’t find him however, and so she made her way to Nozel’s office. Normally she tried not to make a point of being the captains sister, but normally she had someone she liked to be around, and so decided to make an exception to it today. Plus, she hadn’t seen Nozel since he sent them on the mission, so wanted to get his reaction to it. No doubt he had heard the real story from their mother, but it would still be nice to see him anyway. Turning around a corner to get to his office, she flinched when she walked face first into a taller mans chest. Stumbling back a bit, Noelle looked up to see the surprised face of Solid, before it turned into a sneer.

“Look what we have here. It’s never enough for you to just be normal is it, always desperate for attention, no matter what it is you do,” Solid hissed, getting angrier and angrier the longer he looked at her. Solid had seemed to dislike her immensely, however he had never shown the real hatred he had shown her in her first life. Now though, when he looked at her, he seemed absolutely livid for some reason. At the corner of her eye, Noelle noticed Nebra was also there, with probably coming from seeing Nozel. Briefly looking at her, Noelle noticed she was practically rolling her eyes at Solid. Noelle didn’t really know what to make of that though, and so decided to just respond to her brother.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you okay, big brother?” Noelle replied mockingly. At this stage of her life, Noelle found Solid unbearably petty most of the time, and truly had hardly any affection for him. He was nasty, weak, selfish and basically represented everything that made her miserable for a large part of her life. Nebra hadn’t been much better, but at least here she had kept a clear but distant relationship between them. Noelle thought she would like to get on with all of her siblings if possible, but really didn’t have time for them if they didn’t care. It was out of character for Noelle to be so openly provocative, and this only enraged Solid more. 

“You little shit,” he said, this time giving her a sharp push which she didn’t respond to, “From the moment you were born, it was always Noelle this, Noelle that, no one seemed to have time for anyone but you!” Solid had started raising his voice, and by now people were starting to look at them.

“Solid lower your voice, you’re embarrassing yourself,” Nebra said, willing to engage now their family might be embarrassed by Solid’s outburst.

“Oh, so now you’re taking her side as well? It was bound to happen, after all, the world revolves around keeping her happy,” he spat, before bulldozing on before Nebra could interject, “It doesn’t matter how pathetic she is, or how much shame she brings on our family, it’s always been ‘let’s pretend there’s nothing wrong with Noelle’. Maybe if she hadn’t been so fucking coddled, she would have learned a lesson or two. Now she nearly gets our cousin killed, but everyone is singing about how impressive she is, because see how much she looks like mother!”

A crowd was really gathering by now, and Noelle was a bit stunned by his outburst. Noelle really saw just how bitter he was at her, and she was shocked at how public he was being with his rant. As he opened his mouth to continue, an ominous pressure descended on the room, as the heavy weight of Nozel’s magic slammed into them. Noelle though she even heard a few people collapsing behind her, but it was the sickly pale colour of Solid that drew her attention. He must of been the focus of Nozel’s anger.

“Solid. Leave.”

With that simple command, Solid nodded shakily, before storming past her and everyone else as he ran out of the base.

“The rest of you get back to work. Noelle come here,” Nozel commanded, and immediately the members followed his orders. Before she could head into his room though, she was stopped by Nebra’s hand on her shoulder.

“Solid is an idiot and a brat who refused to grow up. I hope you know, no one but him thinks of you that way, Noelle,” Nebra said. Noelle was taken aback by the kind gesture from her sister, but she couldn’t help but feel happy bout it regardless. Nodding with a small smile, Noelle walked past her and into Nozel’s office.  
“What a joke, as if I didn’t need anymore things going on,” Nozel muttered as he held two fingers over the bridge of his nose. It was always surprising how open he was around her. It was probably her favourite change in this world.

“Is something the matter, big brother?” Noelle asked.

“I’ll tell you in a moment. Anyway, I apologise for not being able to come see you these past few days. I have been very busy with a rather unexpected new challenge. I was informed by mother though of what happened on your mission, and received an official report from the Wizard King’s office. You did well given the unfortunate circumstances, and I’m proud of you for handling yourself so ably on your first real mission. Well done.” Noelle didn’t really feel like she deserved it given what her actual abilities were, but still, to receive such outright praise from Nozel always made her blush like mad, so she nodded while looking away.

“Enough about that, I’ve been talking non stop about the mission for the past few days. What is it that’s been keeping you so busy, big brother?”

“Well, that’s what I had just been talking to Nebra and Solid about. Though I’m not sure I’ll allow Solid to go anymore,” Nozel trailed off. Go? Go to what? Noelle’s internal question was answered quickly though.

“I was told to prepare for a squad inspection, and then to prepare our family for a Royal Ball. The Spade Kingdom’s royal family is making a short-notice trip to the Clover Kingdom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger, has to be done haha. Anyway, that was a bit longer than the past few, so hope you enjoyed it! Solid's rant was sort of what I imagine a child who never grows up would have. Solid is just super petty lol and has yet to grow up. Also glad to bring Kirsch in, he's one of my favourite's I wish got more screen time. Oh well, just have to do it here I guess. 
> 
> As always thanks for reading, and let me know what you though of the chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

The next few days were hectic, to say the least. Noelle was being shuffled around from her duties as a magic knight, catching bandits and other petty crime, right to the finest dress makers in the kingdom. It was a special and rare occasion indeed for a royal visit after all. 

Noelle herself had never partook in one; in her original lifetime the 4 kingdoms had never been on particularly friendly terms, the best they had was the neutral relationship they had with the Heart Kingdom. As such, she was very much nervous as to what was to come. That wasn’t even taking into the fact it was the Spade royal family, the very same that had been murdered and overthrown by the Dark Triad in her original timeline.

“I’ve heard that the Spade’s Prince is very handsome my lady,” one maid had felt the need to inform her, “And he’s only a few months older than you!” Words like that followed her while the palace prepared, as well as whispers of the boy being a powerful wind mage.

From those kind’s of comments, as well as her own research into Spade, Noelle concluded it would be very likely be Yuno that she would be meeting with the arrival of the Royal family. She had not really thought about it too much given the circumstances at the time, but she had been somewhat surprised to find out from Asta that Yuno was in fact Royalty, like her. It was in someways not surprising at all, given his natural talent, but Noelle remembered him being extremely blunt and not very much like a royal. Though, now thinking about it with a more clear head, that was obviously from the way he was bought up.

Still though, there was a palpable air of nervous energy surrounding both her home and her squad’s base, as Nozel ramped up the discipline, demanding every spot of their base to be spotless and shining. Currently Noelle was sat at a table, watching members scurry about to reach Nozel’s high standards. Noelle was of course not participating in such cleaning, and no one would ask her to, no matter how annoyed they might be at her special treatment. That being said, if they saw her attempts at cleaning, they would surely ask her to stop anyway. Letting her eyes wander around the hall, she took note of Hei, who was begrudgingly taking part in the clean up. Standing, she made her way over to him.

“Hei, where have you been? You better not have been avoiding me, this place is too boring,” Noelle said, flipping a ponytail behind her shoulder. She was still poor at expressing her emotions, and wouldn’t for a million years admit that she had missed him since the end of their mission.

“I suppose as long as the princess is entertained, nothing else matters right?” He asked, lifting an eyebrow scornfully. Taking a step back, Noelle wondered what the hell his problem was.

“What’s with the attitude? You’ve been strange since the end to our mission to the dungeon,” Noelle replied, scowling.

“You need to take a look at yourself before you start complaining about other peoples attitudes princess,” Hei responded leaning over her. She didn’t know if he was trying to intimidate her into backing down, but that was the last thing that was going to happen.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not the one who’s suddenly changed their personality for no reason. Also, stop calling me princess, it’s annoying,” Noelle said back. She knew that her personality could be a bit abrasive to some people, but Hei had never seemed to be bothered by it before, and she was right in saying she hadn’t changed. So it was strange to her that he was being so rude out of seemingly no where.

“That’s the problem isn’t it though? You’ve been hiding things from the moment we met, always keeping others at arms length. Well, I’ve thought about it, and I don’t like people who lie to their friends, so sorry princess, but maybe you should be the one to change.”

Noelle was surprised by how much that actually hurt her feelings. She had never been called out on her behaviour with the Black Bulls, and had gradually warmed up to them, even if she had never been completely honest with Asta about her feelings for him. For someone she considered a friend to be so blatantly say he didn’t like her was more than a little upsetting. The blatant disrespect he was showing her by mockingly call her princess was the last straw though.

“As if I need to take the advice of a peasant on my attitude. You’re lucky I’ve been kind enough to allow you to hang around me in the first place, you pathetic bug. Don’t expect me to forgive you when you come crawling back when you inevitably need me, given how disgustingly weak you are,” Noelle sneered, falling back on her old insults to hide her real feelings. Noelle expected that to be the end of it, about to turn her back and walk away to cool her head, but was surprised when she felt Hei roughly grab her shoulder. His eyes were alight with rage, and she let out a gasp as his magic surged, electricity making her stiffen in pain. Her magic was naturally at a disadvantage with Hei’s, the water nature of it easily letting his magic flow through her body, and though it wasn’t debilitating, it wasn’t nice by any means. Before she was able to respond, Hei pulled away first, stumbling back, and looked between her face, scrunched up in pain, and his own hand, as if in disbelief that he was the cause of her pain.

“S-sorry,” he stuttered out, before quickly fleeing, leaving her a confused, in pain and emotional mess. Thankfully, it seemed people where too busy to notice their little scuffle, and no one took notice of her as she quickly made her way out of the building, a mean look making sure no one approached her.

Arriving at the palace, Noelle saw the lead tailor and her mother discussing things, before seeing her. 

“Noelle my darling, come here for a minute, we need you to try on the dress just to make sure it fits,” Acier called out to her.

“Not now!” Noelle snapped back, storming up the stairs. She was pretty sure she heard the tailor gasp at her rudeness, but couldn’t be bothered to check as she quickly shut herself in her room, and started to pace. Anger was a feeling she was much more comfortable at dealing with than hurt, so she focused on that. As Noelle was plotting how to maim Hei in the most slow and painful way possible, she scowled at Acier as she entered the room, not bothering to knock.

“I don’t know what’s got you in such a mood, but I know I raised you better than to be so rude, Noelle,” Acier scolded, gently but sternly. Noelle was half a second away from snapping she didn’t raise her at all, but kept it in just in time. Acier was nothing but good to Noelle, and while Noelle didn’t have the memories of growing up with a mother, she still instinctively knew her connection to Acier was that of a mother and child, and loved her as much as she ever had another person. So, biting her tongue, Noelle didn’t protest the reprimand.

“Sorry, I’m annoyed,” she replied simply. Taking her hand, Acier guided Noelle to sit at the edge of her bed. It reminded her of when she was breaking down over Mimosa, only this time she was more angry than upset. Before Acier could ask, Noelle decided to just tell her.

“I was talking to one of my friends - well former friend I guess - and out of no where he starts telling me he doesn’t like me anymore, and it’s just really gotten on my nerves.”

“Did he say why he doesn’t like you?”

“Just that I keep people at arms length, and that I keep things to myself. It’s not like that’s anything new though, so I don’t get why it’s such an issue now.” Acier took a moment to think about how best to respond before she replied.

“Well, I’ve noticed you seem to have a lot more on your mind lately which you don’t want to talk about. Ah - before you say anything, no I’m not saying he’s in the right. You’re at the age now Noelle where it’s normal to want to be more independent and not share everything with everyone. As your mother, I wish you would always tell me if something is bothering you, but I also realise that’s not possible. If this person is demanding you share things you’re not comfortable with sharing, then maybe it’s for the best that he’s not part of your friendship group anymore.” Noelle nodded in agreement, happy that her mother sided with her, and didn’t seem too interested in pressing for details about anything she wasn’t sharing with her. Still though, she felt the need to reassure her mother she was still comfortable telling her things.

“I know I can always speak to you mom, it’s just somethings I can’t really talk about right now.”

“Well, you’re talking to me right now aren’t you? That’s good enough for me.” Acier gently bent down and kissed her forehead, sending the increasingly familiar feeling of warmth through Noelle’s body. It really was nice to be given affection every now and then, something she sorely missed growing up.

“Now, come try on this dress will you? The ball might not be until this weekend, but we’re having a smaller dinner for their arrival tonight, so we need to make sure everything fits, ok? The poor tailor is having a panic attack.”

Nodding, Noelle followed her mother down to try the dress on. It was pretty enough, a simple off shoulder pale blue dress that complimented her figure and rather unique hair and eye colour. Thankfully, her measurements had been right and the dress fit her like it was meant to, so that was sorted. It would be several hours until they arrived, but she would be needing to get ready soon. In the meantime though, she made her way to Mimosa’s room, who was thankfully transferred out of the hospital, and was free to move around more or less unrestricted, though Noelle knew it would be a while before Captain Vengeance risked such a valuable member again. 

Just as she reached the corridor with Mimosa’s room on it, she was met with the sight of a confused looking Mimosa being guided by an attendant. 

“Hey Mimosa, what’s going on?” Noelle asked. Before she could respond, the attendant looked at her in surprise, before bowing low.

“Lady Noelle, what good timing. If you could, please accompany me, the King himself has requested your presence.”

The King? What the hell did that man want with her and Mimosa? Whatever it was, she was sure it wasn’t good. Still though, it wasn’t as though she had any reason to refuse, and she wasn’t going to leave Mimosa to go alone. Nodding, she fell in line with Mimosa behind the guard.

“What do you think it is he wants? I’ve only ever seen the King at Royal functions, and never in person. I have no idea as to what he wants with us,” Mimosa said, wondering the same thing she was. The two speculated as they made their way through the castle, no plausible reason jumping to mind. Thankfully they didn’t have to wait too long to find out though, as soon enough they reached the giant set of doors for the King’s personal achievement. Knocking, the attendant announced their arrival, and in return they heard a nasally voice demand for them to enter.

Opening the doors, Noelle looked around the massive room in wonder. She had never laid eyes on this room, despite growing up in the same building. It was excessive, as she’d expect from the greedy man Noelle had come to know. Looking at the raised platform, she saw that there was a translucent curtain that hid his face, though once the door closed behind them as the attendant left, he threw them open to look down on them properly. Noelle made a face when she saw two women sat on the bed with him, and he made a face right back when he realised the two girls weren’t kneeling. Noelle didn't tend to respect authority figures unless she had a healthy degree of fear for them. Even Yami, who Noelle respected and admired more than maybe anyone, didn’t get very much respect unless it was an incredibly serious situation. A pig of a man like Augustus inspired nothing in her but disgust, and so she would try and be civil, but she would not be submissive and meek to him. Mimosa was mainly following her lead, and didn’t seem too worried either by the anger on his face, no doubt hearing rumours of his weakness.

“Tch, I suppose it would be too much to expect proper etiquette from the daughter of our lowest family and the infamous failure of the Silva’s,” Augustus tutted. Noelle was used to hearing the insults, but Mimosa noticeably stiffened next to her at the jab to her family.

Mimosa’s mother was her aunt, and from what she gathered, was not exactly desired in the royal family. When her father, the heir to the Silva family, searched for a wife, he came across Acier, the most promising mage of her generation and also someone with a distant blood tie to the royal family, though was several generations removed from having a relative in the main family. During their courtship, Acier often bought along her younger sister, a talented but unremarkable noble girl who had a gift for healing magic. She had met the youngest son to the Vermillion family during this process, and the two fell in love, despite the fact Mimosa’s father had already been engaged. It had been an embarrassment for the family, and to this day, Mimosa’s parents rarely returned to the palace, though this suited them just fine, even if they didn’t spend a whole lot of time with their children now they were old enough to look after themselves. Noelle knew this upset Mimosa, and so quickly tried to change the subject.

“What is it that you called us here for?” Noelle asked, not bothering with using his title. She could practically hear the King’s teeth grinding, and Noelle was unsurprised at how easy it was to get under his skin.

“Little brat,” he muttered, “As you know, tonight we will be greeting the Royal family of the Spade Kingdom, which only consists of the parents and one son. Their son is around your age, and as such, we have a unique opportunity. Our nations have never been on better terms and we wish to solidify this relationship, permanently. One of you two will be the future Queen of Spade, and this process begins tonight. I don’t care how, but you will get that boy of theirs to want to marry you. To be honest, the both of you could marry him for all I care, if that’s what it takes. By doing this, we can have a permeant tie to their Royal family, without having our own main line be corrupted with foreign blood.” 

Noelle could only stare in shock at his bold demand. He was basically telling two 15 year old girls to seduce a foreign prince, and telling them that one or both of them has no future other than to be the wife of said prince, who neither of them has met. It was ridiculous, and even though the practice of arranged marriages was alive and well, the fact he was going about it in such an underhanded manner made her think he had likely already tried and failed to set up an official marriage with the Spade prince.

“M-my King, I’m not really sure how you expect us to go about such a task…” Mimosa trailed off nervously, clearly distressed by the notion of her future being taken away from her.

“Do I really need to spell it out for you girl,” he said, before looking her up and down, “Those tits of yours are the only thing useful your mother bought into this family, so you best make the most of them.” Mimosa gasped at the vulgar language, covered her chest in shock, and immediately began tearing up. 

Today had already been an emotionally draining one for Noelle, and hearing this pig of a man degrade her cousin like that wasn’t something she would stand for even when she was feeling her most charitable. Besides, a man like Augustus would only ever learn from being shown his place in the pecking order. The moment the words had left his mouth, Noelle leapt up to the platform the king kept himself on, and grabbed two handfuls of his shirt. The two women who had been rubbing his shoulders though their talk gasped, and jolted away from them.

Looking into the King’s shocked eyes, Noelle saw them quickly turn to rage, and just as he opened his mouth to shriek at her, or summon his guards, Noelle activated her Valkyrie armour, and before so much as a squeak could leave his mouth, Noelle flew up, casually breaking through the wall to the outside. The King’s room was already located at the highest point in the Kingdom, so as soon at the left they could oversee the whole Kingdom. It was really beautiful, but Noelle barely paid it any mind, instead focussing on rocketing straight up into the air as fast as possible. Noelle could only vaguely hear the screeching sound Augustus was making as he desperately clung on to her arms, wailing for his life. 

Once they reached the point Noelle could start to feel the air thinning, she took a look down. As someone who could fly, she wasn’t really afraid of heights, but even she felt a bit of vertigo looking straight down, as from this height the huge palace could barely even be seen. Turning her attention to the sobbing man, Noelle looked him straight in the eye.

“Please, please don’t kill me, I’ll do anything, just let me live, I don’t want to die!” He begged, unsuccessfully trying to dig his fingers into her forearm gauntlets.

The two stayed like that for a moment, letting his plea for his life hang between them, furious magenta eyes locked with his weeping black. The moment ended though when Noelle abruptly released him from her hold, and his eyes widened in disbelief, arms flailing for purchase in the empty air. His shock had made him silent for a moment, but less than a second into his free fall he was once again shrieking for his life.

With how high they had gotten, Noelle guessed she could let him fall for about 20 seconds without moving, and then still make it in time to rescue him. Counting out loud, she briefly entertained the thought of letting him fall and save himself, and if not just die. A man with his amount of magic should never be in fear of death from falling, though from his reaction, she guessed he’d never been in a life-or-death situation. It also wouldn’t surprise her if he unlocked a spell that would break his fall. Despite how pathetic he was, he was still a royal.

Sighing, Noelle realised that would be too risky, and once she counted to twenty, she raced down after him. It took less time than she had thought to catch up, and they still had a fair bit of time before they would hit anything solid. Noelle hovered just outside of his flailing limbs, letting him think he could grab her, before just moving out of range. It was quite cruel, but Noelle felt for what he had just said to Mimosa, it was well earned. Eventually though, her fun came to an end, and just before he was about to splat against the castle, Noelle grabbed him, and pulled up a bit too fast for comfort, hopefully tearing at least a few of his muscles. They hadn’t strayed too far from her original hole, and she quickly flew back through it, and deposited him on to his bed. Noelle was surprised no one had come in, surely the bang from the wall breaking would have grabbed someones attention.

Apparently not though, as everyone was more or less in the same position as when she had left. Jumping down from the platform, Noelle walked over to Mimosa, grabbed her hand and walked over to the exit. It had been less than two minutes.

“Don’t worry Mimosa, we figured everything out, didn’t we?” Noelle loudly asked, the two girls looking back at the cowering, snivelling man, who nodded pitifully as he buried his face into the thighs of one of the women he had with him. Not bothering to say any more, the two left quickly, Noelle still keeping a hold of Mimosa’s hand.

“Noelle, I can’t believe you did that! He could really have you killed!” Mimosa whisper-shouted, eyes darting around to make sure no one was looking.

“Well, he won’t, its not a big deal trust me. Besides, I couldn’t let him think he could just say that kind of ridiculous nonsense without punishment.” The two continued down the hall for a little more, Mimosa trailing Noelle a bit. Just as they left the Kira part of the palace, Mimosa stopped suddenly, making Noelle jolt to a stop too.

“Hey, what is -“ Noelle began, before Mimosa hugged her suddenly. Noelle flailed a bit, arms awkwardly waving through the air, before she felt Mimosa trembling lightly against her. Sighing, she hugged her back properly, gently rubbing her back as she felt tears on her shoulder. After a minute, Mimosa pulled back, wiping away at her eyes.

“It’s always been like this, you looking out for me. I’m really grateful you know?” Mimosa said.

“You’ve done a lot for me too Mimosa, no matter what anyone said about me, you always were kind, and it meant a lot,” Noelle responded, feeling close to tears herself. Mimosa smiled widely at her when she said it, and Noelle blushed, before turning around.

“Besides, it’s not like I did that for you or anything, he just really got on my nerves, so don’t think about it too much, okay?” Noelle huffed, before walking off. A giggling Mimosa followed her, gently taking her hand again, as she followed from behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big chapter here, about 4k words, which is a lot for me. I had planned on doing the welcome dinner with Spade this chapter, but lots has already happened, so I decided to wait till next chapter. For those wondering about Hei, here we are, and as we can see he's not in the best of mood's. His reasons aren't the best, but he will explain himself at some point, though he'll basically be a background character for now. I enjoyed writing more with Acier and Noelle, and then with Mimosa and Noelle too. What I didn't enjoy though was writhing that line which triggered Noelle, I felt kind of shitty writing it, I don't know, but I guess that was the point seeing as it was meant to be something outrageous, and I feel it would be sort of in character for Augustus to say it. I probably won't do too much like that because I wasn't really comfortable writing it, but hey, I'm still new to writing so we'll see what happens. I didn't think it was bad enough for a trigger warning, but let me know if there should be one for future reference. Maybe I'm just overplaying it though since it was my first time writing anything even remotely like that, but yeah I'm waffling so I'll leave it at that. Noelle dropping Augustus out of the sky seemed kind of funny to me as a concept, so I just thought may as well put it in, and I did enjoy writing it, thought it was good punishment.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think, and thanks for reading as always! Next time Yuno will make his debut!


	13. Chapter 13

Following their meeting with the King, the two girls kept together for the remaining afternoon, Noelle ranting about how annoyed she was with Hei to take up the time. Eventually though, it was time to prepare themselves for the welcome dinner, and Mimosa returned to the Vermillion wing of the castle to be prepared by their own personal attendants.

After having her dress put on her, Noelle was shuffled into a room wear various members of staff were shuffling around herself, her mother and Nebra to prepare their hair and makeup. Noelle didn’t often take part in dressing herself up, happy to keep her hair in simple twin ponytails, but these stylists instead on doing all sorts of twists and braids. It was surprisingly not that bad, but she couldn’t help but grimace in sympathy when looking over at Nebra. She had gotten lucky with inheriting her naturally straight hair from her mother, but Nebra had the more traditional Silva look to her, with thick, wavy hair that didn’t want to cooperate. It also wasn’t as long, so there was few styles that could actually work, though that didn’t stop them from trying.

After they finished getting ready, the three of them stood together, with Acier gushing about how beautiful her daughters had grown, much to Noelle’s embarrassment. Eventually they were joined by Nozel and Solid, both of whom were dressed in suits. Solid shot her a glare from the corner of his eye, but knew better than to blow up on such an important evening, while Nozel complimented the three of them. After taking a family picture, they were informed by a butler it was time to go to the dining room.

The dining room was less of a room than it was a grand hall, with an obnoxiously long table to host all of the members of the family. The Kira’s where by far the largest though, their family being larger than the other two branches of royalty combined. The setting arrangement matched this, with the Silva’s and Vermillion’s seated toward the end of the table, while the King sat at the head, surrounded by other Kira’s. From the corner of her eye, Noelle thought she spotted Finesse, Finral’s fiancé, and definitely took not of one Damnatio Kira, sat right by the King. He had always been an intimidating man, and the severe look on his face gave her no hint that he was any kinder in this world. As she continued her examination of the table, she briefly locked eyes with Augustus, and almost smirked when he looked away almost instantly. 

Before she could get too invested in her musings, she was startled from her thoughts as the arrival of the Spade Kingdom was announced. Standing up, she took in the sight of the King and Queen, and was surprised at how much of Yuno could be seen in the. Just as she thought this, the Prince walked in behind them, and Noelle was not surprised by the appearance of Yuno. He looked about the same as she remembered, maybe a little more filled out from getting proper nutrition, but other than that he remained the same. His eyes cooly swept over the crowd of Royals as he got to his seat, which was much further up the table. Noelle continued to look at them as they were allowed to sit, trying to get a feel for what kind of people they would be.

“Something catch your eye Noelle?” Mereoleona asked from her seat. She was surprised the wild woman would even bother to show up to such an event, even with how high profile it was.

“Nothing, just getting a look at them,” Noelle responded, making a bit of a sour face when Mimosa looked at her with interest, It seemed she hadn’t forgotten the content of what the King had asked of them, though of course Noelle couldn’t explain the real reason she was looking so intently at Yuno.

“Well, there you go. They look pretty ordinary to me, if anything they’re a bit disappointing. I don’t know why you insisted I come Lady Acier, there’s nothing special happening,” Mereoleona complained.

“I just thought it would be a nice chance fo us all to be together, after all it is such a rare occasion after all,” Acier said, smiling demurely. Well, that explained her unexpected appearance.

What followed was essentially a surprisingly normal, and even enjoyable, family dinner. While the Kira’s kept to themselves, making sure to keep their guests entertained with proper etiquette, at their end of the table, Noelle had to keep herself from raising her voice beyond acceptable levels, as she, Mimosa and Leo all enjoyed talking to each other, mixing their chatter with observing with wonder and awe at how Acier somehow managed to keep a stroppy Mereoleona on a leash. Nozel, Nebra and Fuegoleon also seemed to be getting on well, though Solid was obviously in a mood still, refusing to talk with Kirsch, the only Vermillion around his age. Kirsch kept himself entertained though, bouncing between the other main conversation groups with ease. Noelle found it particularly funny when he and Mimosa went at it.

Eventually though, after the dinner had formally ended, they moved to a slightly more casual part of the evening, where everyone would be mingling. Presumably, this is when the King expected her and Mimosa to introduce themselves to Yuno, and somehow make him fall in love. If Yuno was anything like what she remembered, there was a better chance of drawing blood from a stone. She did want to speak to Yuno at some point though, just to get a read on him. She didn’t know what threats they would be facing in this world, but Yuno would no doubt be a powerful ally to have. Still speaking with Mimosa and Leo, Noelle watched as Acier walked over to them.

“Hi you three, Lady Loyce and Lord Ciel will be coming over in a moment to greet you, I’ll help introduce you,” Acier said.

“Do you know these people Aunt Acier?” Mimosa questioned. Noelle hadn’t thought about it, but if their relations with Spade were decent, then it was possible.

“Only a little, I’ve ran into Lord Ciel on the battlefield a few times, though never as enemies, and I met Lady Loyce a long time ago when she visited the Clover Kingdom before. Do you remember going to the Heart Kingdom Mimosa? It was like that, an opportunity for her to learn different cultures. They’re kind people, so don’t worry about it. Their son is also here, and he’s around your age, so try and be nice okay? He probably doesn’t know anyone else his age of the same social standing, so it will be nice for him to be able to talk with you.”

Leo boldly agreed, making it his mission to befriend the boy, and Mimosa tentatively nodded. Noelle wasn’t sure how this would go, her personality and Yuno’s didn’t exactly mesh, but she’d try her best. Just as she thought this, she saw the Spade family make their way from the King over to them.

“Lady Acier, it’s an honour,” Ciel said, bowing. His wife curtseyed next to him, a delicate smile on her face. Looking at them, Noelle could see where Yuno got his looks. His father was a near mirror image, though he had slightly more masculine features, a stronger jaw, slightly broader nose. His mother was pretty, with long dark hair and high cheek bones, and that was definitely where Yuno’s slightly more delicate features came from. Not as beautiful as her mother, Noelle thought, but still, she was a pretty woman.

“No, the honour is all ours my Lord, my Lady. Please, let me introduce you to our next generation of our magic knights, Acier began, “Here is Leopold Vermillion. I’m sure you know of his two older siblings, Fuegoleon and Mereoleona. Leo will surely be just as impressive as them someday. Isn’t that right, Leo?”

“That’s right, soon I’ll have surpassed both of my siblings, and I’ll be the strongest!” Leo proclaimed. It would sound arrogant coming from most, but Leo had a certain charm about him, and it was clear that wasn’t his intention.

“My, my. You certainly do look like a strong young man. A rival for our Yuno perhaps?” Lady Loyce replied, giggling. Leo flushed a bit, though quickly distracted himself by walking over to Yuno and introducing himself. Noelle wanted to see how that went, but was distracted by Acier.

“This is my niece, Mimosa Vermillion. She’s very talented, with an extraordinary aptitude for healing magic.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mimosa. It’s a pleasure, my Lord, my Lady,” Mimosa said, far more formal than Leo had been.

“Healing magic huh? That is certainly rare, especially in our parts in the north. Maybe one day we could borrow you, it would be very helpful, I assure you,” Ciel said with an easy grin. Noelle noticed that his parents were far more open and friendly than Yuno was. It was weird seeing someone with Yuno’s face smile.

“And lastly, this is my youngest child, Noelle. She’s my pride and joy really, I’m glad I get to introduce you to her,” Acier said, putting a hand on her shoulder, making her blush. Before she could formally introduce herself, Loyce jumped in.

“My, Acier, it’s as if I’m looking into the past! If it weren’t for the eyes I’d say you two were clones,” Loyce said, taking a closer look at Noelle. This was pretty unwanted territory for Noelle, uncomfortable with this level of attention from most, let alone some stranger.

“N-nice to meet you, I’m Noelle. I’m… a water mage,” Noelle finished lamely, trying to put some more differences between her and her mother to stop the examination.

“Is that right? I can tell from your mana, you’re a strong one. I’m sure you’ll continue to make your mother and country proud,” Ciel said, pulling his wife back. Apparently he could tell she was making her uncomfortable, and Noelle was grateful to the man. Nodding, Noelle walked away from the awkward conversation, and over to what looked to be perhaps even more awkward. Mimosa was fidgeting nervously next to a silent Yuno, who was doing his best to ignore a determined Leo. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to be rivals?! My brother only got as strong as he is now from competing with his rival! If I want to surpass him, I need my own,” Leo said. He had apparently taken what Yuno’s mother had said to heart, and was pestering him already. Noelle could see Yuno barely bat an eye, hardly even registering the loud yelling.

“Leo, lay off would you. He clearly doesn’t want to talk about whatever you’re yelling at him about,” Noelle said, laughing a bit when she saw Leo pout. Making eye contact, Noelle introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you, Yuno was it? I’m Noelle Silva,” Noelle said, not curtseying. Looking at her for a few seconds, Yuno eventually sighed.

“Yuno Grinberyall. Nice to meet you.” Following his reply, there was an awkward silence for several moments. Usually Leo would be the one to break these up, but he was still whining over her telling him to shut up. Eventually, Mimosa couldn’t take it anymore and broke the silence.

“So, Yuno-san, how are you finding the Clover Kingdom? I’m sure it’s very different to home, but I hope it’s not too much of a change.”

“It’s not too bad I guess. It would be better if Asta was here though.”

Noelle sucked in a sharp gasp, snapping her head to look at Yuno in disbelief. Yuno met her eyes in what seemed to be surprise as well.

“Asta? Who’s Asta, Yuno-san?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First part of the chapter was a but if a chore to right ngl. That's on me though, I realised halfway through that I could have done it differently, but hey, that's what you get for not planning before writing. Anyway, sorry if the first half was a bit boring, hopefully the ending makes up for it. Next chapter we'll see what Yuno's relation to Asta is, so look forward to it!
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing, it really means a lot, and hopefully you can let me know what you thought of this chapter too!


	14. Chapter 14

Noelle and Yuno continued their stare off as Mimosa’s question hung in the air between them. He didn’t seem to register what she had said, and was instead focusing his whole attention on Noelle. Noelle was also equally absorbed, sheer shock and disbelief the only emotion she was able to register. How the hell would this Yuno know Asta at all? The Asta of this world was still a Clover citizen judging by his grimoire, and Yuno was a royal from the Spade. There was no reason that Asta should have met Yuno in this world.

“Yuno-san?” Mimosa prompted, nervously looking between them. This broke their locked eyes, as Yuno finally glanced back to Mimosa.

“Sorry, I got distracted for a moment. Asta’s a friend from home that’s all,” Yuno said, impressively keeping his cool despite his earlier surprise.

“Oi, Noelle, why’d you suddenly seem so shocked?” Leo asked. Now the attention was back on her, Noelle began to sweat. She wasn’t good at lying on the spot, but thankfully out of the corner of her eye she spotted Fuegoleon and Nozel starting to square up to each other, giving her a convenient way out.

“N-nothing Leo, just look over there, it seems like Captain Fuegoleon and big brother are about to fight, that’s all.”

“At a place like this,” Mimosa gasped as she looked over to the captains. Mereoleona was cackling behind them, bringing most of the attention of the room on to the three. Leo seemed especially pumped, and ran over to see what the fuss was about, Mimosa trailing after him to ensure he didn’t do anything stupid. This unfortunately left her alone with Yuno, who had once again taken to staring back at her. Not knowing what to say, she awkwardly looked to her feet to try and think of something to say as to why she had reacted so violently.

“Noelle, can I speak to you, alone if possible?” Yuno said. She nodded stiffly, leading him away from the ruckus of other’s, seemingly unnoticed thankfully. Once they made to an outside balcony looking over the city, she waited for him to ask the first question.

“Why did you react that way when I said Asta?” Yuno said, blunt as ever. She couldn’t really think of a compelling lie, so she told him a half-truth instead.

“I fought a man named Asta a little while ago, I was just surprised to here the name being used so casually,” Noelle replied, not able to meet his inquisitive gaze. He was surprisingly calm, and she couldn’t catch a hint of hostility from him, which was a positive she supposed.

“He must of left quite the impression then for you to have reacted so strongly.” At that, she could only nod, not trusting her voice at this point. There was about a minute of silence in which she waited for Yuno to say something, before at long last he sighed.

“To hell with it,” he muttered. Pulling out his grimoire, Noelle looked up at him in surprise, he didn’t seem hostile, but she didn’t understand any reason for magic to be involved. Opening his grimoire up, Noelle’s eyes widened a tad as the familiar wind spirit jumped out of the page, immediately flying to latch herself on to Yuno’s face. After a moment of smothering him, she looked over to Noelle, surprise showing on her tiny face.

“Oh, it’s you, annoying water gi-“ Bell started, before Yuno interrupted by squeezing his thumb and index finger into her cheeks. Still, the damage had been done, and Noelle was once again rendered speechless as she looked from Bell to Yuno. He was keeping his eyes trained on her reaction, and eventually Noelle had to break the silence.

“How does she know me?” Noelle asked as a sinking feeling began to descend on her. Yuno said nothing as the feeling in her stomach grew, an answer forming in her own head, though she didn’t dare to speak it.

“Do you really not know?” Yuno asked. Once again there was silence as Noelle tried to process all of her thoughts. How could she not have thought about this before? If she had been placed into some weird alternate dimension, then it was obviously a possibility she wasn’t alone. It was just that so far, everyone she had already known was so noticeably different than they been in her world, so the thought had never popped into her mind. But why did Bell know who she was? The answer hit her like a ton of bricks, suddenly reaching for her own grimoire, full of spells which this body hadn’t earned yet. If their magic was transferred with them, then as a part of Yuno’s magic, Bell would also have come over with him.

“Are you also not from…” Noelle trailed off, not able to say the truth that she had so carefully been trying to keep to herself out loud.

“Not from this world?” Yuno asked, prompting her to nod, eyes darting around to make sure no one was listening. “That’s right. A few months ago I died fighting Zenon. But, then I woke up in this world, and everything is wrong. I knew no one in the Spade Kingdom, and I had thought I was alone, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try and draw out your reactions by mentioning Asta. I guess I was right.” Noelle nodded slowly, still reeling from the fact she wasn’t alone with this knowledge anymore.

“Why do you think it’s us here?” Noelle asked.

“That’s the question I guess. As far as I can tell, no one else who was there in Spade when we fought the Triad are here, is that right?” Noelle nodded quickly in response, and Yuno continued, “My best guess was that it had to do with Zenon’s devil; he was a spacial magic user. I had figured that there was some kind of disruption when our spells collided, but if you are here too and no one else is, then I have no idea as to what could be the reason.” The silence between them came back for a moment, Noelle having nothing to add, before Yuno asked her a question.

“By the way, did you actually meet up with the Asta of this world? I tried looking for him a while ago in Hage, but when I asked the church they said Asta hadn’t lived there for a while now.”

“Yeah, I met him. He was fighting with the other members of the Black Bulls against us in the dungeon - you know where we fought the Diamond mages - and he seems to genuinely hate the magic knights of this world. He would have killed me I think.”

This drew the biggest reaction from Yuno for the whole night, and he seemed genuinely upset Asta wasn’t the boy he knew anymore. Noelle knew the feeling well enough, and she still felt awful whenever she thought about the look in his eyes when they fought. Yuno was never an overly emotional man though, and soon enough he put a lid back on his emotions.

“What do you think we should do?” Noelle eventually felt the need to ask. It was all well and good that she had someone else from her world now, but to be honest, she had no idea as to what to do with the information. Yuno took a moment to think before responding.

“I suppose we just have to keep on the look out for any hints. More than that, keep an open for the Triad. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t find a word about the Zogratis siblings. I wonder if they even exist in this world.” Before Noelle could reply, she looked over to see the door to the balcony open, as Acier walked out.

“Oh Noelle, I was looking for you. You should have said you were popping out to speak to Yuno alone,” Acier laughed. Noelle flushed, quickly informing her mother it was absolutely not like that. From there, she quickly walked back into the hall, followed by a stoic Yuno. The two didn’t really speak that much for the rest of the evening, however she still felt a weight had been lifted off her shoulder, knowing that she was no longer alone.

The days of the Spade Kingdom’s visit was coming to an end soon, and with it would be the grand ball, where all the major noble families and other important figures of the Clover Kingdom would be invited to attend. The city streets were buzzing with excitement, as even though not everyone would be involved, there was definitely the feeling that something special was going on. 

Walking down a random street, Asta heard the commotion going on, all the talk of grand balls and noble families not interesting him in the least. However, he couldn’t help but feel a certain pull. The girl who he had fought had definitely been of noble birth, given her appearance and huge mana pool. A grand ball would most likely the best opportunity he would get at guaranteeing a meeting with her once more, not mention would also be fairly easy to sneak into. With that thought in mind, Asta made it a mission to find Vanessa, who was not doubt wondering down some dark, shady alley, in order to help him find the right kind of clothes for the occasion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter, though it was quite important with the info, so hopefully that made up for it! Hope no one was upset with the way I'm using Yuno, he's a hard character to write, but I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and please tell me what you thought of it!


	15. Chapter 15

Since finding out Yuno was from her world too, Noelle had felt a far stronger connection with him than she had ever felt before. While she definitely was not as isolated as Yuno, she could never shake the feeling of being alone. Now though, she was feeling far happier, and she thought even Yuno was being more tolerable than he usually was, seemingly taking her personality in stride much better than he ever would have done in their first world.

The result of this was the two of them spending a lot of time with each other during the Spade Kingdom visit. Mimosa was worried she was doing it for the wrong reasons, however much Noelle instead there was no romantic spark between the two of them. Her mother initially thought it had been a crush too, however after she had witnessed a hellacious sparring match between the two, where they nearly caused a small natural disaster between her water and his wind, Acier had instead come to the conclusion the two saw each other as equals, both in a social and magical sense, which was not something either of them were really used to.

During the Spade families inspection of the Silver Eagles squad, their newfound closeness was bought to attention. Solid had been making a few snarky comments about how she was throwing herself at Yuno, and while no one important paid it any mind, the rest of the Silver Eagles were evidently very curious. Noelle was chosen to show the family around the base with Nozel, and as they were introducing the squad members, Hei decided to make his thoughts known on her and Yuno’s ‘relationship’.

“I see it hasn’t taken long for you to replace me,” Hei muttered lowly, ensuring only Noelle could hear, after she had introduced Yuno and his parents to him. Noelle had thought she was being very professional, she hadn’t been rude about him and had even praised his potential, despite how much of a jerk he had been to her. 

“What the hell are you talking about? Yuno’s not your replacement, and even if he was, what right do you have to be annoyed?” Noelle asked back, much more loudly than he had been, drawing the attention of Yuno. She couldn’t believe a guy as selfish and petty as him was ever someone she had considered a friend. Before he could respond, Yuno interjected.

“What’s this guys problem Noelle?” Yuno asked, blunt as ever. Noelle could see this was probably the worst response that could have been given, going by the audible sound of Hei grinding his teeth.

“Oh first name basis already? Pretty informal for two royals isn’t it?”

“So?” Yuno asked, his deadpan getting under Hei’s skin more and more. Noelle had always thought the two were kind of similar, both could hide their emotions, both had a bit of a chip on their shoulder, but now she saw them face to face, it was obvious just who was more in control. To be fair to Hei, Yuno was mentally a fair bit older, but still, Noelle couldn’t help but find it a bit funny to see someone else be so wound up by Yuno’s attitude when normally she was on the receiving end. Hei clearly didn’t have a response, and so began to get in Yuno’s face a bit. They were the same height and build, but Noelle could feel the difference in their power like it was night and day.

“Oh, you want to go? I would love to see what a four-leaf grimoire user could do,” Yuno said, lips quirking in amusement. Noelle was sure Yuno found this quite funny, with him being the one who used to possess a four-leaf.

“Hei, what do you think you’re doing,” Nozel asked coldly. The three teenagers snapped their heads in his direction, noticing now everyone was looking at them. No one else would probably notice, but Noelle could clearly see just how livid her elder brother was. After a brief period of silence, Yuno’s father cut in.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Captain Nozel, I’m sure there was just a simple misunderstanding. I know our Yuno can be a bit difficult sometimes,” the Spade King said.

“Actually Captain, me and his royal highness here were just wondering if we could have a little sparring match. He’s interested in my grimoire you see,” Hei said to Nozel, though his eyes had once again moved back to Yuno. Yuno himself said nothing, but nodded to confirm Hei’s statement.

“See, nothing to worry about! I’m sure that will be acceptable right? I know boys there age love to test their strength against one and other,” the King said. Nozel seemed aggravated still, though he nodded his approval, and all of a sudden, they were walking out to the training grounds. Despite knowing what was about to happen, Noelle couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as the two squared off from either side of the field. Yuno was as strong as she was, and without the type disadvantage that she suffered against Hei. The outcome could only go one way.

“Thunder God’s Bellow!” Hei yelled, as an enormous stream of lightning spilled from his mouth. He had definitely powered up since the last time Noelle had fought him, but Noelle had grown even more, and Yuno was able to match her, so she was entirely unsurprised when without even using Sylph, Yuno casually raised a hand, summoning a huge vortex of wind, swallowing the lightning easily.

“Is that the best you can do? How disappointing,” Yuno sighed. Scowling, Hei quickly summoned his Lightning Armour, darting in on Yuno much faster than he had been expecting, and though Yuno managed to raise his guard, it was a clean hit, similar to the one he had landed on her during their entrance exam. Looking over, Yuno didn’t seem phased in the least, and only skidded back a few meters. Hei tried the same attack, but Yuno simply jumped, wind magic propelling him high in the air. Hei, to his credit, wasn’t flustered, and immediately shot out another roar of lightning. The attack once again was blocked, but in the meantime, Hei had leaped up and over Yuno. Yuno met his attempted strike with a pressurised blast of wind, which knocked Hei far into the air. While it was possible for mages to walk on air, Hei didn’t know the technique yet, and so in his position was completely defenceless. Being rougher than necessary, Noelle barely saw the tiny figure of Bell emerge from Yuno’s grimoire, before his trademark ‘Sylph’s Breath’ attack smashed Hei roughly into the ground, knocking him cold, and causing some of the weaker members of the squad to be knocked on their butts from the residual wind.

Floating down, Noelle couldn’t help but think Yuno looked awfully smug. Still though, she struggled to feel sorry for Hei after the way he had been acting over the past couple of days. Yuno briefly looked at her, before turning his attention to Nozel.

“Is that the best your squad can offer?” Yuno asked. Yuno’s father face-palmed at his son’s arrogance, while his mother laughed nervously. Nozel was unbothered though.

“Hardly,” he responded dryly. He had been witness to his fight with her, so thought nothing of the boy trying to get on his nerves. Looking over at two random members, Nozel ordered them to take Hei to the medical tower for treatment.

“Any reason you were so rough with him?” Noelle asked, genuinely curious. Yuno could be an ass, but he wasn’t one to flex his power for the sake of it.

“Hmm, don’t know. That guy just got under my skin. I wonder why?” Yuno asked rhetorically. Noelle knew it was likely due to how Hei sort of was his replacement in this world, but kept that to herself.

“Who knows?”

It was the night of the ball to celebrate the successful visit of the Spade Royal’s, and Noelle was once again preparing herself. She was much less stressed about this evening, now not having to think about what Yuno would be like, and the fact it was a much larger event, with all those in the Magic Knight’s being invited, as well as the more senior nobles, even if they weren’t involved with the military. She doubted Hei would be coming, so she imagined it was going to be a fairly low-key night, mostly spent with her extended family.  
Arriving at the huge hall were the ball was happening, Noelle wasn’t too surprised to find the hall packed, but not quite to capacity. There were plenty of people in the Magic Knights who were completely uninterested with things like these, and a quick look around confirmed Mereleona had opted not to attend, and for all Noelle knew had abandoned the city all together. 

After a brief speech from the Spade King about how impressed he was with the Clover Kingdom, the ball was underway, and Noelle was with her usual friendship group in these types of situation, Mimosa and Fana chatting with her about what they’d been up to. Leo was off bothering Yuno, who himself had more official duties to attend to, being told to mingle as much as possible with the Clover elites, much to his displeasure.

“So, I heard you and the prince have been getting pretty chummy with each other,” Fana said, a conspiratorial smirk on her face, “And I even heard he beat up that other boy you’ve been spending so much time with.” Noelle wasn’t even flustered at this point, merely sighing at the line of conversation. It was kind of hard to believe that Fana the Hateful was such a gossip when she didn’t have something to hate.

“I’ve been through this with how many people now?” Noelle asked aloud, “Look, he and I just like talking about magic. He’s someone who I respect as a mage, and I gather the feelings mutual. They don’t have too many strong mages up there in Spade from what I can tell, so he’s probably just happy to be able to let loose for once. And with Hei, that was just him wanting to test himself against a 4-leaf grimoire user. You’re thinking too deeply about nothing.” Fana pouted at being so systematically shut down, and even Mimosa seems not to worry about their relationship, or lack-there-of, anymore.

“Well, does that mean I can try my luck with him,” Fana tried one last time.

“Go for it,” Noelle deadpanned, channelling her inner Yuno. Fana muttered about how boring she was being but let the topic drop, as they continued to wander around the hall, people watching and talking for a while. Noelle was listening to the other two talking when she caught a flash of pink hair from her periphery, and turned to look at the person with the unusual hair colour.

“V-Vanessa!” Noelle whisper-shouted, stunned to find the witch so casually taking a drink from the bar, looking like she owned the place. Quickly looking, Noelle saw her friends were invested in their own conversation, so quickly excusing herself, she walked as quickly as she could without running over to the older mage. As she got closer, she saw a short man with black hair next to her, and as he turned to show her his face, Noelle once again stopped dead. What the hell was Asta doing in a place like this?! And what was with his pathetic disguise. Noelle supposed that if she had really only seen him the once she may have missed it, but to Noelle it was clear as day who was under the fancy clothes and dyed hair.

Noelle took a moment to compose herself. Asta was here with Vanessa, meaning she was still with the Black Bulls, which also meant she should consider these people enemies. Spreading out her senses as hard as possible, Noelle found no other Black Bull. Taking a deep breath, she walked away from the two, and over to Yuno. He was in the middle of listening to some old noble dribble on, and he put up no resistance when she dragged him away, without even an explanation.

“Asta’s here,” Noelle hissed. Yuno’s eyes widened, before his serious look returned, and he nodded.

“Where?” He asked in response. Motioning over to their general direction, Yuno tensed up when he saw his rival for the first time in what would be well over half a year at this point.

“What should we do?” Noelle asked.

“I guess all we can do now is approach them, find out what they’re doing here.”

Asta himself was having a bit of a rough time with his evening. He had no real plan when he had decided to go to the ball, but knew in his bones that it was something that he needed to do. With a little extra clothing, and a neat trick with the help of Liebe, he used anti-magic to colour his hair black, and he looked like a new man. Well he thought so at least, Vanessa just said he looked like he was having a pre-midlife crisis, and was trying to be edgy.

As for now though, after sneaking into the ball with disgusting ease, he was trying to look for the girl he had fought, but so far he was unsuccessful, mostly, in his opinion, due to the fact Vanessa was dragging him from one bar to another, thoroughly enjoying the free drinks being provided. Sighing, he watched her chat up another bartender as he poured her a drink. She didn’t even need to flirt, the drinks were free, but Vanessa was who she was, and this was unfortunately just a part of it. Just as he was about to tell her he was going to leave her for herself, he heard a voice call out to him.

“You’re Asta, right?” Snapping his head around, he felt his eyes open wide as he saw the girl he had been looking for, as well as another guy their age. Both of them were staring him down, and just as soon as he saw them, his body froze as his mind was bombarded with memories that didn’t belong to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy with this one, decent length and the plot moved while still having some action. I said in a comment, but updates may slow from now as school gets more intense, but I'll try update at least once a week, probably on the weekend. Hope that's alright!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and please leave a review if you can!


	16. Chapter 16

Just as soon as the assault on his mind started, it ended. Stumbling back a bit, he breathed a couple of deep breaths to try and calm himself. He felt a hand settle on his shoulder, and looking up, he saw Vanessa was looking down at him with a concerned look. Looking back up, he saw the two he had been looking at before, both who seemed hesitant to approach despite their evident concern. As he looked at them, a sharp pain pierced his head, and suddenly he knew their names.

“Noelle, Yuno,” he rapsed. The two across from him were shocked, and Vanessa frowned, asking who they were, before coming to the conclusion herself.

“Asta, is that you?” This time it was Yuno who asked, taking a bold step in his direction. The more he looked at the taller boy, the more memories came to mind. Years and years of growing up together, bonding over their shared hardships as brothers, and then when they got older, rivals who pushed each other to new heights.

‘But that’s not possible,’ Asta thought stubbornly. He remembered his childhood, he had grown up in Hage, but this boy in front of him was not there with him. How the memories suddenly in his head were just as vivid as the ones that had always been there, Asta had no idea, but he knew he didn’t like it very much. Looking to the other person a bit closer, Asta felt the same sensation as memories came to mind as he looked at her worried features, far fewer than had appeared with Yuno, but no less vivid and important. 

‘Asta!’ Liebe’s voice screamed at him from inside his head. Suddenly appearing in front of the devil, Asta was stunned to see the normally sarcastic and aloof devil with wide eyes and seemingly short of breath.

‘Who are you, the person of this world, or mine?’ Liebe asked. This time the memories pasta saw were those of hard training, a man who could wield devils at will, Nacht, and then he saw his death.

‘I-I don’t know who-‘ was all Asta could manage before the sudden influx of information overtook him, and he collapsed, unconscious.

Thankfully Yuno had been close and had managed to catch him. Vanessa was looking more and more distraught, not knowing what to do now, she was in a room of enemies, with a girl who recognised the boy she was supposed to take care of as a rebel, and no possible escape route.

“Don’t worry about anything I’m not going to say anything,” Noelle said to Vanessa, much to the older girls shock.

“Just don’t cause a scene, and let’s get out of here as discreetly as possible, ok?” Not really seeing any other option, Vanessa could only nod, before she moved to take Asta from Yuno. As much as he didn’t want to let go of Asta right now, he knew it would probably look weird for one of the starts of the ball to be dragging out an unconscious boy.

“I’ll take these two to medical tower, you’ll be able to find us there right Yuno?” He only nodded in response, thankful the room was so busy no one really seemed to notice anything that had just happened.

“Lets go then,” Noelle commanded, quickly guiding Vanessa and Asta out of the hall, and into the cool night air. Vanessa was so on edge right now, Noelle couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her.

Vanessa was not having such sympathetic thoughts though. Right now was probably the best chance she could get to escape with Asta. She didn’t know or trust anyone right now, so as far as she was concerned, she needed to leave. She and Finral had a meeting place sorted, and all she needed to do was send a message soon their communication device. Her magic wasn’t really best suited for combat, but it would have to do.

As soon as the three had gotten out of sight from prying eyes, Vanessa asked Noelle to take Asta from her, saying the boy was too heavy. Despite how much this would normally embarrass the young princess, she accepted, all to happy to be in contact with the boy for the first time in months - well in a way that wasn’t threatening. 

Once she had gotten Asta seated in Noelle’s arms, she didn’t take a moment before she attacked. Quickly punching the unsuspecting girl across the chin, Noelle stumbled down to the floor, her heels causing her to lose balance. Vanessa had connected a string to both Noelle and Asta while she had been moving him, and once Noelle stumbled, she yanked Asta away from the girl, while simultaneously using her string to tie up the unexacting victim. As soon as she felt the girl was secured, she reached to pull out her communication device.

Noelle had been briefly stunned by the attack, the punch was hardly enough to bruise, but without being able to see it coming, it knocked her off balance for a second. It didn’t take long for her to collect herself though, and as soon as she saw Vanessa scrambling to reach for something, Noelle knew she had to act quickly. Not thinking to use Valkyrie Armour, Noelle shoved a huge amount of magic into her legs, reenforcing them for a big boost in speed. Not being able to use her arms, Noelle leapt at the witch, crudely head butting her, the crown of her head slamming painfully into Vanessa teeth and nose, which in turn caused her to drop, clutching her face with a groan, blood dripping between her fingers. 

Scrambling to her feat, Noelle looked down at the older girl, feeling guilt despite being the one who had been attacked first. Looking down at her bound arms, Noelle used Valkyrie armour, and the string snapped easily. Taking away Vanessa’s bag, Noelle saw that there was a communication device in it and sighed.

“Look I don’t know what kind of stuff you guys get up to, but trust me, I have no interest in reporting you to anyone,” Noelle said, trying to convey her feelings to Vanessa as clearly as possible. Reaching a hand down, Noelle offered to help Vanessa up. After a moment of hesitation, Vanessa reached up, taking the offered hand. 

“Why are you interested in Asta?” Vanessa asked, “You’re the girl he fought in the Dungeon right? He told me what to look for, and he said the last time you saw each other, you were trying to kill each other. Why aren’t you getting us arrested?”

“Look, it’s really complicated and we don’t have time for it now. Maybe I’ll tell you later but for now, we need to get a move on alright? Yuno will have probably already arrived. Grab on to me,” Noelle ordered. After making sure both Asta and Vanessa weren’t going to fall off of her, she jumped up to fly over to the medical tower to meet up with Yuno.

As expected, he had already snuck out and was sat waiting for her, looking a bit unimpressed at the slightly bruised look on both her and Vanessa’s faces, though he was wise enough not to comment.

“Wait a minute, why the hell is the prince of the Spade Kingdom involved again?” Vanessa asked, genuinely confused. Yuno said nothing, and Noelle only shot her a look which once again told her it was too long a story to get into.

“It’s all well and good having him here, but what should we do now?” Noelle asked Yuno.

“All we can do for now is wait for him to wake up and then hope for the best,” Yuno said back.

“But aren’t you meant to be living in the morning? What if Asta wakes up after you’ve already left?” Yuno paused at that, not really thinking about the fact he would be leaving the Clover Kingdom indefinitely.

“I guess I’ll still leave as I am supposed to, but I’ll give you information on how to contact me. It shouldn’t be too hard, from what I can tell my parents are more than pleased by the fact we get on.” Noelle nodded, but said nothing more. It was a few minutes before Vanessa broke the silence.

“What is going to happen here. You know we’re part of a group being hunted down by the Magic Knights right?” How do you expect everything to be fine just keeping two members here without repercussions?”

Noelle had not known that at all. She had gathered the Black Bulls didn’t like the magic knights of this world, but for them to be hunted down? She had described the members she saw in detail to Julius and he hadn’t said anything about them…

‘Of course he didn’t. That man never has a straight answer for anything.’ Noelle thought to herself. She liked the Wizard King, but trust? No.

“Are you sure that they’ll be able to recognise you? After all you were able to blend in with the crowd.”

“I suppose they don’t have a picture of all of our faces… But still, if anything gets out about us, they’ll try to kill us.”

“Who is they? I’m part of the magic knights, my brother’s a captain even, but I’ve never heard a whisper about you guys around here.”

“They don’t wear normal squad robes, they all have on these white cloaks which hide their face. I don’t know much about them, but I know their leader is a guy called Damnatio.”

She and Yuno shot each other a glance, both realising the danger immediately. Damnatio Kira was as dangerous as they came. In a one on one fight she felt confident she could beat him, but his magic was vicious and worked over a large area. If he had a team behind him, it was possible he could use his scales to weaken his opponents and then give that power to his allies. It was no wonder someone like him was in charge of taking out the Black Bulls.

“That guy is never around these parts, the only time you’d see him in this city is if you went right up to his quarters in the palace. It’s probably safer to be right under his nose, he wouldn’t think to look out for you here. Still though this is a problem in the long term, I don’t want him to come and bite us down the road,” Noelle said. For now though, she would just have to keep an eye on them, and hope for the best with avoiding Damnatio.

“Yuno, you should probably go back to the ball now. People will get suspicious about you not being there. Besides it’s not likely he’s waking up anytime soon.”

Yuno hesitated for a moment, before he nodded, agreeing with her and quickly exiting. It was silent for a long while after that, maybe half an hour before the two girls looked over to the door, hearing footsteps walk closer. Vanessa seemed a bit stresses, but managed to keep her voice down.

“What should we do?”

“To be honest we were bound to be found in this place. Come with me, I can fly you to my room, there’s more than enough space for the three of us,” Noelle responded drawing a nod from Vanessa. Like they had got in, the three flew out of the window just as the door opened behind them, Noelle flying quickly and quietly away from the medical tower and over to her bedroom. Vanessa stiffened when she saw they were in fact going to the palace, probably only just realising she was royalty.

“Hey, didn’t you say we should stay away from here so we could avoid that Damnatio? What the hell are we doing stepping right into his house?” Vanessa asked. Noelle realised Vanessa was probably worried she was being set up, so moved quickly to reassure her.

“Didn’t I tell you? The different Royal families stay to their own quarters unless they get a direct invite. I don’t think a Kira has been on this side of the palace as long as I’ve been alive, so really, don’t worry about it.”

Vanessa was still a bit on edge, but accepted her reasoning. Vanessa then took in the scope of the room she was in. A massive king size bed dominated one end of the room, but there was still plenty of room for other things, like several huge chairs and an unnecessarily large desk. Her room was probably bigger than half of the Black Bulls base.

After laying Asta down on the bed, Noelle looked back to Vanessa, sighing when she saw her awed look. She was glad no one had ever seen her bedroom in her first life, it would no doubt cause endless teasing.

“Stay where you want, the beds big enough for you if you want to share it. I’ll be sleeping on the chair tonight.” Vanessa nodded, but still went over to one of the other chairs, which kind of surprised Noelle. She was no doubt comfortable with sleeping in the same bed as a boy, so she couldn’t really tell why she declined. 

Noelle knew she would have to be up in the morning to see off the Spade family, but she’d cross that bridge when she got there. She was emotionally drained, and so despite all the thoughts on her mind, she fell into a deep sleep without too much issue.

The next morning, Noelle woke with a crick in her neck, and to the sound of snoring. Unsurprisingly it was not coming from the bed with Asta, but instead from Vanessa. She always did snore after drinking, and despite how sober she had been acting the night before, had drink quite a lot. 

Before long, Noelle heard the door knock, which was normally how the maids woke her up. Calling out to say she was up, she expected that to be it, but when they continued, Noelle frowned before going to the door. Quickly looking at the bed, she ran over to it and threw the cover over Asta to make sure he was hidden. It’s not as though any servants would dare comment on it, but it wouldn’t be ideal for a boy to be found in a royals bedroom.

As the knocking continued, she opened the door with a huff, about to scold whoever was being so obnoxious at this time of morning, only to stiffen in surprise to find Nozel.

“Big brother!” Noelle exclaimed in surprise. He took in her appearance with a raised brow, but didn’t comment, though it was still enough for her to go a bit red. She really should have changed out of her dress before bed.

“Noelle, I just came to make sure you’re alright, no one saw you leave the ball last night. As well as that, you will need to ready yourself, the Spade family will be leaving in the next few hours,” Nozel said. It made her heart warm a bit to find out he cared enough to check up on her, and she smiled back up at him, momentarily forgetting about everything else.

“Thank you for checking on me, I was just a bit tired so I left early. Don’t worry, I’ll be ready in a minu-“ Noelle began to say, only to stiffen in horror when she heard a loud groan from behind her, the sounds of sheets ruffling accompanying it. Her eyes were still on Nozel’s face as he looked up from her and over her head, and she winced when she saw his eyes widen in disbelief, and if she could guess, horror. Looking behind her, she saw Asta had indeed flipped over in his sleep, cuddling a pillow, looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. Where it a maid, she would have said to hell with it, and just shove them out and close the door, but Nozel was so rooted in place she thought it would be easier to move a mountain.

Daring to take a peek at his face again, she was disheartened, though unsurprised, to find his face had lost the disbelief, and had morphed into rage.

“Noelle. Please get out of the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just put Asta in Noelle's bed for a shameless bit of overprotective Nozel? Yes. Am I sorry? No.
> 
> So, good news! I was super motivated to write over the weekend, and got out like 10k words, which is about 5ish chapters. On top of the extra stuff I'm sure I'll write, this should allow me to keep up the 2 chapters a week schedule, maybe more if I can't wait to publish a chapter(don't get your hopes up though). Anyway, I'm really happy where we're going with the story, so I'm happy in that regard. These longer stories are hard to get a consistent writing style, since my mood changes so much when writing, so maybe in the future I'll stick to a bit shorter works, but for now I'm feeling good.
> 
> Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed, and let me know what you think!


	17. Chapter 17

“Wait a minute, this really isn’t what it looks like!” Noelle shouted as Nozel tried to storm forward into her room. She placed both palms on his chest and pushed back as hard as she could, which only amounted to him stopping for a moment as he looked down at her. Noelle thought he had calmed himself down for a moment, but was quickly disappointed when she saw mercury magic shoot by her head, immediately binding Asta, and slammed him into the wall by her bed.

Asta woke with a start, sputtering and gasping, eyes wide in pain and shock. Looking up through bleary eyes he could barely comprehend what was going on before he recognised the familiar ki. He tried to call out too Nozel, but the mercury tightened around him, and he could feel his bones creek.

All the commotion had succeeded in waking up Vanessa, who was looking on through surprisingly sharp eyes, well used to having to function while hungover. Seeing what was going on, she looked at Noelle, convinced she had been betrayed. Summoning her own magic, Rouge jumped out of her grimoire and on to Asta. To only Nozel’s surprise, Asta seemed to faze out of existence for a moment and then reappear, now not trapped by the mercury, which was only crushing him harder and harder.

Nozel’s moment of shock was short lived, and he quickly tried to attack once again, but this time Noelle successfully got his attention. 

“Nozel listen! Do you really think anything happened, look at the state of us! They're just two friends I bought from the ball, they were really drunk so I thought it would be easier for them to stay!” Noelle screamed.

Nozel paused for a moment, and took a moment to judge their appearance. All three were still dressed for a party, and there were in fact three people, not just a single boy as he had initially feared.

“What a stupid idea,” he said disdainfully, “When has it ever been suggested you could bring people to the castle as and when you please?”

Noelle flinched a bit at his tone, looking away. Despite how much she had grown, no one was capable of bringing her down quite like Nozel. He had never used that tone with her over the time she had been with them, mostly treating her like she was made of glass. 

Nozel saw the hurt in her face though, and quickly calmed himself, trying not to upset her anymore. While he was angry by her rashness, nothing had come of it, and it really wasn’t worth being upset over. Sighing, he tried to collect himself.

“Friends you say? Where from?” Nozel asked.

“We met at the ball last night, we spent most of the night together - with Yuno too actually,” Noelle said. Nozel looked at her incredulously, struggling to believe that his sister became close enough friends within a single night that she would be willing to invite them to her bedroom. After a moment he sighed, before finally relenting.

“Whatever. Either way, its time for you to get ready and for these two to leave - “

“Actually, Yuno got on really well with these guys and I think it would be nice if we could see him off together! It would only be fair,” Noelle said, cutting him off mid sentence. Nozel twitched, and she knew she was pushing her luck. Once again though he relented.

“Fine. Boy, come with me. I’ll find something more appropriate for you to wear.”

Asta had barely recovered from his near death experience, and on top of this had only just gotten his former memories back, which resulted in an extremely dazed, and unusually quiet Asta simply nodding, only sparing a glance at Noelle to let her know he was aware what was going on, before being led out.

It was quiet in her room for a moment, before Vanessa turned to her.

“What the hell was that about!? I thought you said we would be safe here!”

“Sorry ok? I wasn’t expecting my brother to come here on a warpath, what could I have done? Anyway, no harm no foul right? We do need to get ready to see off Yuno after all. You’re about my sisters size, so wait here for a moment ok?” Noelle said, before she herself ran off. Vanessa sat there in silence, thinking any other way her life could get crazier after the day she has had.

Meanwhile, Asia was having an extremely disorienting morning. First, he wakes to a vicious assault from Nozel, nearly having the life squeezed out of him by the enraged captain, before suddenly being released, and was now walking alongside said captain. On top of this, his head was all over the place, only just piecing together the situation he was in. 

The last clear memories he had were of dying. Dante had proven to be too powerful for him to defeat without Yami, even after the extra training he did with Nacht. The next thing he remembered was being in the Capital, staring down Noelle and Yuno, and then now. He also has a whole lifetimes worth of fuzzy memories about not being a magic knight anymore though, and the different Black Bulls squad, but those are all incredibly vague in comparison. 

“Change. This room here should have decent clothes that fit you. After, make your way out of the palace. I assume you can remember the way, or were you too drunk to remember?” Nozel said, not even bothering to hide his disdain.

“I know, thanks,” he responded, not really trusting himself to say more. Nozel glared at him for a moment more, before walking away.

Asta sighed, finally letting himself take a moment to process what he was doing. Right now, all he could realistically do was continue to go along with the pretence that he was just some random Noelle met until he could have a moment with either her or Yuno in private. Pausing, he remembered there was in fact someone else he could talk too.

‘Liebe,’ Asta thought.

‘Good of you to finally talk to me Asta.’  
‘Sorry, I was kind of busy if you hadn’t noticed,’ Asta said, uncharacteristically sarcastic. 

‘Well, what is it?’

‘What do you think? Do you have any ideas as to what the hell happened to us, and why we’re suddenly not dead anymore, and the fact Yuno is the Spade Prince and Noelle isn’t with the Black Bulls anymore?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine, brat. I’ve never heard of any magic that could cause this level of disruption to space-time. My only other guess would be this is all an elaborate illusion. I doubt it though, for one anti-magic should work on it, and for two the amount of magic it would cost for an illusion of this scale is way beyond anything even a devil could realistically use. On top of that, if your two friends are also being cast under the same illusion, that only makes me doubt it’s an illusion even more.’ Liebe said, making Asta frown. After a while though, he realised that was probably the best answer he was going to get for now, and so decided to drop it. 

After changing into his new clothes, Asta made his way out of the castle, were he noticed a large entourage of people surrounding a carriage. Quickly hiding himself in with the crowds, he took note of what was happening. The King was talking to a man who looked shockingly like an older version of Yuno, who was awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Asta wondered why he was seemingly nervous about speaking to Augustus, that guy was about as intimidating as a kitten. Upon further inspection, Asts saw Yuno standing behind who he guessed was his dad.

Looking around a bit more, Asta saw some familiar face, seeing Nozel and Noelle’s other siblings standing next to who he thought for a second was Noelle, but on closer inspection realised was too old to be the girl he knew.

‘Her mother,’ Asta realised. Asta didn’t know too much about the family drama of the Silva family, but he did know that Noelle had forgiven Nozel for the way he treated her, as he had been doing it to protect Noelle who was evidently the spitting image of their mother. Just as he thought of Noelle, he saw the girl make an appearance, subtly inserting herself next to Nozel, and he saw Vanessa’s distinctive pink hair from behind her.

Noelle panted a bit, having rushed through the process of getting changed to make it in time. She couldn’t hear what was being said, and so she was curious as to why Yuno had bowed before the Clove King. Yuno held him in even lower regard than she did, so it was strange to see. 

“Acier, come here!” Augustus squeaked, and Noelle wanted to slap him for the casual way he spoke to her mother. Acier herself was a bit curious, and so walked over. Leaning a bit closer, Noelle tried to focus on listening to what was being said.

“…so would that be alright?” The Spade King asked, far more respectful than his counterpart, though Noelle still couldn’t fully make out what was being asked.

The question seemed to spark a bit of commotion, as now all sound was completely drowned out as people started murmuring. Noelle kept her eyes on Acier though, and was even more interested when her mother nodded, seemingly happy at the request. Acier turned to Yuno and smiled, and once again Yuno surprised her by bowing with respect.

Walking back over to them, Noelle started to get an idea of what was happening when Yuno trailed behind Acier as she walked back over to her children. This idea was proven right when she looked at them with a big smile.

“You four, I’m sure you don’t mind, but Yuno here has said he has liked it so much here he would like to stay for an extended period to learn more about the Clover Kingdom. Noelle, since he seemed to be getting on so well with you, his father asked if it was possible our family hosted him for his time here, and of course I said yes! I’m sure it isn’t a problem right?” Acier asked her children sweetly.

Nozel and Nebra nodded, indifferent, while Solid seemed annoyed for some reason or another, though he still nodded. Catching his eye, Noelle couldn’t help but notice a little smirk on his face, and she shook her head in disbelief, before smiling a bit and nodding herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say on this one. Hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review if you can!


	18. Chapter 18

The rest of the day was spent awkwardly trying to avoid confrontation with Nozel after the awkward morning, and also showing Yuno around. It was enjoyable enough, and she had even managed to convince Acier to let Asta and Vanessa stay for a while. Nozel wasn’t best pleased, but he didn’t defy his mother.

Eventually, after they had all eaten, Yuno, Asta, Vanessa and Noelle all sat in a room by themselves to discuss what to do from there.

“Well, to be honest I have no idea what you three have to do with one and other, but Asta, we can’t just forget about the Black Bulls. They must be worried, we told them we’d be going back this morning at the latest, so we need to contact them,” Vaness said.

“R-right,” Asta said nervously, “But the thing is Vanessa, I’m not exactly, well you see, I’m kind of -“ Asta eventually stopped, gathering his thoughts as he tried his best to communicate what he wanted to say.

“I’m not the same anymore,” was what he eventually decided to go with. It was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Vanessa shot to her feat.

“So what? You’re just done now? After everything?!” Vanessa yelled, getting louder and louder, as tears started pooling in her eyes. Yuno and Noelle watched on awkwardly, not really sure what to do.

“What do you mean? Of course not! The Black Bulls are family, nothing can change that, even if some things might be a bit different now,” Asta said back, just as passionately.

“Well can someone please tell me what the hell is going on? All I know is that somehow you three no each other now, and Asta isn’t my Asta anymore,” Vanessa said, Asta looking down at the last comment. It was true though, all three of them had vague feelings of memories or attachments that weren’t their own, their more dominant souls taking over the bodies of a different version of themselves.

“You can control fate right?” Yuno asked, veering off topic suddenly. The sudden change was enough to startle her from what she had been asking.

“Y-yeah, I guess. It’s not as powerful as you think though, the rules only apply to certain people, and it drains me fast. Why?”

“I’m trying to think. We’re all not from this place, in fact from what I can tell, we should all be dead. But we’re not. Also, why is it that me and Noelle could remember our memories months ago, but Asta only got them back after meeting Noelle and I?” Yuno asked, getting black looks back from everyone.

“No ideas then? Isn’t it possible Vanessa altered our fates to try and change the outcome of the battle? She was much more powerful than the one here after all, and in a life and death situation, magic can be incredibly powerful and unpredictable,” Yuno said, finishing his new hypothesis.

“That still doesn’t explain Asta though, or as a matter of fact why any of the three of us got transported. Vanessa wasn’t near me at least, and as well as that, we’re far from the strongest mages who were in Spade,” Noelle said after a while. 

Just as Yuno was about to respond, everyone but Vanessa stiffened when they sensed a magic presence in the room, and to everyones shock, a portal opened up, right in the middle of the four. Before any of them could react, a black blur shot out of the portal, as one Yami Sukehiro emerged.

“Yami-san, are you sure this is a good idea?” Finral asked his captain nervously. They were currently standing a few hundred meters away from the palace, Yami smoking without a care in the world, while Finral was sweating bullets.

“Ain’t your job to ask questions. It’s to get me places,” Yami responded indifferently. “Right now I’m telling you where to open a portal ok?” Finral could only nod at the dismissive answer.

“Right then,” Yami said, before dropping his cigarette and closing his eyes. Expanding his mana zone wasn’t something he was that good at, he was more specialised in condensing it. Still though, he could get a pretty good read of the mana over a few hundred meters. As he’d expected, the palace was full of monsters, several people with more mana than even a captain had right too, though he ignored them. He was a bit surprised when he located his two idiot squad mates, who were in a room with two other people, both of whom had more mana than he did. Well, that could be a problem if they were grown up. He could deal with a few overpowered kids though, and that’s what he would have to bet on. He wasn’t going to leave his brats to the mercy of some snotty rich assholes.

“Oi Finral. Open the portal 235 meters that way,” Yami commanded, pointing to where he found Vanessa’s mana, and Asta’s lack of mana. 

“Please be careful, I can’t risk leaving it open for too long,” Finral said. Yami said nothing, just looking to where he was about to go, no hint of nerves on his face.

Sighing, Finral concentrated, and opened the portal.

“Captain Yami!” Vanessa, Asta and, much to Yami’s surprise, Noelle shouted. Looking around, Yami was happy to see his underlings were unharmed, and the two in the room looked to be around Asta’s age. He could deal with them then.  
Unfortunately for him, they were in groups of two, Asta and Yuno on one side of the room, and Vanessa and Noelle on the other. Not hesitating, he sprung over to Vanessa, intent on kicking the girl through the nearest wall, but she genuinely caught him off guard when she managed to raise her arms to block. It wasn’t enough to save her from being knocked off her feet, his raw strength towering over hers, but she still was conscious.

Regardless, Yami used the moment to grab Vanessa, throwing her over his shoulder, before turning to Asia, hoping to see the boy already making his way to the portal. He was disappointed when instead of running, all Asta did was yell at him.

“Wait a second Captain, you don’t need to do this!” Asta yelled. 

‘Ungrateful brat,’ Yami thought, ‘We’ll see if I’ll bail you out the next time you walk into enemy territory.’ Still, Yami moved over to Asta, intent on grabbing him. However, this time, the boy with him had more time to react, along with Yami being slowed down by Vanessa, and he raised a powerful barrier of wind between them.

‘Tch.’ Unsheathing his katana, Yami was about to send Yuno to an early grave, but before he could, he twisted around, barely raising his sword to stop himself from being killed. Staring up at familiar blue eyes, Yami internally groaned.

‘Why her?’ The Black Bull leader lamented. 

Having sensed the intrusion, Acier had made her way to the room, knocking through the ceiling in the process, and aimed a steel sword right at the intruder. Looking down, she was shocked herself.

“Yami! What are you doing?” 

“Not the time for a catch up, old lady,” Yami replied. Despite his casual response, Yami knew his time was up. All around him he could sense powerful magical signatures closing in, and in front of him was a captain level mage with more experience than him, two little monsters who were more capable than they had any right to be, and one brat who didn’t want saving. He didn’t even have access to the portal anymore.

“Let him go!” Once again, the little girl from before was apparently familiar with him, and taking a second to actually look at her, Yami realised he had probably just attacked the old lady’s kid. He had no idea why she was trying to help him out, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Though she didn’t move, Acier’s attention was drawn away from him, and he took the opportunity to jump round her, diving through the portal, only taking one look back at Asta. Seeing him look torn up about the situation, Yami resolved to make sure he got him back at some point, but for now, he would have to cut his losses.

Appearing on the other end of the portal, he felt the magic disappear instantly as Finral closed it. Dropping Vanessa, he stared down at her as she sucked in air. He apparently hadn’t been gentle when grabbing her, as she seemed pretty winded. FInral kneeled down next to her patting her back, before looking up at him.

“Asta?” Final asked weakly.

“He’s fine by the looks of it. Don’t worry, I don’t know what’s going on, but I can tell he’s not in danger. Anyway, take us home Finral, we don’t have time to waist chatting out here.”

Finral nodded again, looking a bit teary eyed, but still kept composure and opened another portal, this one taking them back to the base.

“Mom, please don’t say anything,” Noelle whispered to Acier, who had been looking at her for an explanation. Before she could respond, Nozel barged in, taking in the room. Nothing looked too broken other than the ceiling, but he could see Noelle’s arms looked a bit bruised.

“What on Earth happened?” He demanded. 

“Some guy just teleported in here. He didn’t take anything, we managed to fight him off,” Noelle said. It was a bit disconcerting how easily lying came to her now, but she ignored that thought. Looking to Acier for confirmation, he was put at ease a bit when she nodded.

“That shouldn’t be possible. There is meant to be full time coverage of a spacial blocking spell around the palace. Either our guards are slacking, or the man who came in was exceptionally powerful. Either way, we need to bolster our security.”

“Well, could you deal with that then Nozel. Also, let everyone else know it was nothing too serious please. I don’t want rumours starting,” Acier said to her eldest. He took another look at Noelle, but still nodded, exiting the room.

“Now then. I think we should go and find somewhere a bit more comfortable to talk. I have a lot to ask you three, and I don’t expect any lies,” Acier said to the teenagers, pinning them all with a stare. Even Yuno gulped nervously at that, and they followed obediently behind the older woman.

‘I hope Noelle never gets this scary,’ Asta thought weakly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit more action-centric chapter, with a few bits of important info dropped. Not much else to say, though with this chapter we go above 40k words, which is crazy to me, I never thought i'd commit to a project this big!


	19. Chapter 19

After finding a secluded room to talk, Acier invited the three teens to sit down, while she made sure all of the doors were securely closed and no one was eavesdropping.

“Now, I don’t really know you two boys that well, so I hope I don’t come off as too harsh. However, after what I have just seen I need to know exactly what has happened. Understood?” Getting three nods in response, Acier continued. “Well then, parts start simply. Do you three know that man?”

Asta nodded first, not really having any reason not to. He was sure Acier had seen Yami reaching for him, so there was no point in lying.

Noelle and Yuno on the other hand hesitated much longer. Right now there wasn’t really a plausible way for Noelle to deny it; after all she had been the on to ask for him to be allowed to escape. Yuno could, however Acier could probably see through the lies of a 17 year old, and so there also wasn’t much point. After thinking it through a bit, they both nodded. Acier looked at Noelle with a frown, but didn’t single her out.

“How?”

“I’m apart of his squad,” Asta said simply. Acier turned her attention to him.

“The Black Bulls huh?” Acier asked.

“Y-yeah. How is it that you know about it?” Asta asked, not comfortable with being the centre of attention.

“Did you not know? Yami was in the Magic Knights a while ago. Apart of Julius’ squad as a matter of fact. He’s a very talented young man,” Acier said, almost fondly.

“How is it you know about them mom? I asked Vanessa about it, that’s the girl I was with earlier by the way, and we were pretty sure no one in the magic knight’s really knew about the Black Bull’s,”

“Well the exact reasoning for Yami’s departure isn’t known to any of the current captains. But there was quite a scandal back then. I’m not really meant to know too much of the current details either, but Julius keeps me in the loop when he can, so I know that he’s started up his own squad outside of the magic knights. Anyway, don’t think you can avoid the question Noelle.”

“Well, you see, the thing is -“ Noelle stuttered, before Yuno cut her off bluntly.

“The three of us aren’t from here,” Yuno said. She and Asta gasped, before Asta berated Yuno, trying to put a hand over his mouth as if that would take back the words he just said. Noelle could just look at him in disbelief, not sure what was going through his head. Acier looked at them calmly, allowing them a moment to fuss, before continuing.

“What do you mean Yuno?” Acier asked simply, Noelle growing worried as her tone shifted. It wasn’t hostile, but was completely void of emotion.  
“What I said. The three of us aren’t apart of this world. We all are meant to be dead, but for some reason we woke up here,” Yuno said.

“Yuno what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Asta yelled. Noelle was on board with the sentiment and glared at him wholeheartedly.

“Aren’t you sick of it? Asta, you’ve only been here for a couple of days, but Noelle and I have been keeping quiet for months. Eventually we would have been found out, and this is as good a person as any to tell. If anything, we can try getting information about the Dark Triad from her.”

“The Dark Triad, huh?” Acier said quietly, immediately drawing attention back to her. “That’s a name I haven’t heard for a while. The fact you three know about it in the first place probably means you’ve been through a lot I guess,” Acier said sadly.

“We died fighting them, or we were supposed to at least. We don’t know what happened, and we haven’t found out anything about them existing in this world. Do you know anything?” Yuno asked.

“I’m afraid I can’t help too much. As far as I’m aware they are dead. I killed one of them myself after all. They were terrifying enemies though, and if anyone could do something like trick death, it would be those three…” It was silent for a long moment, before Acier finally stood up.

“Right then, you two boys, please leave us now and get to bed. I promise you I’ll do my best to make sure I find out everything about the Triad. For now though I’d like a word with my daughter.” Asta and Yuno stood as commanded, Yuno walking out the door without hesitation, though paused on the other side when he notice Asta wasn’t following. Asta was looking in concern at Noelle, who was keeping her head down, hiding her eyes.

“Asta,” Yuno prompted.

“Miss Acier, I don’t know a lot, but please don’t be mad at Noelle. I know she wasn’t honest with you, but I’m sure she was really happy being with you, and she wouldn’t want to upset you,” Asta said, bowing deeply to Acier. Noelle looked at Asta in surprise, though she probably should expect this kind of stuff from him at this point, while Acier simply smiled.

“Don’t worry Asta, I won’t be. I’m glad Noelle has such good friends like you though, so thank you,” Acier said, smiling at the boy. Asta nodded, before leaving with Yuno. Acier walked over to sit closely next to Noelle, taking one of her hands and squeezing them gently.

“You must have been through a lot, Noelle. Don’t worry, I’m not mad at you.”

“How are you so calm? This isn’t normal, but you seem completely unfazed by everything,”Noelle said, still not looking at her.

“Well, I guess you can call it mother’s intuition. I knew something was strange with you for a while now, and to be honest, I had even thought about the possibility of time travel, though a parallel version isn’t something that crossed my mind. That time you passed out in the hall way is when the change happened right? That’s when you stopped being my Noelle, and well, became you right?” Acier asked. Although she said it gently, with the same warmth she’d always had for her, the words sent a spark through Noelle, and she instantly crumpled into a crying mess.

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to take away your daughter, I really didn’t!” Noelle sobbed into her hands. Acier instantly recognised what set her off. Noelle thought Acier was accusing her of taking away her daughter. While that hadn’t been the intention, the damage was done.

“I know you didn’t, listen I told you, I’m not upset with you Noelle. And besides, you’re still my daughter, even if you have different memories, ok?” Acier said, taking Noelle into her arms. Noelle cried for a bit more, before slowly moving herself away from her.

“My mother was dead for a long time,” Noelle said, and Acier’s eyes widened in surprise, “She died from a curse from Vanica. The last thing she did was give birth to me though, so I never got to meet you. I know I haven’t been normal these past few months. Every part of my body tells me to go to you, and tell you what’s wrong, but I know in my head I shouldn’t, I might look the same, but I don’t have any of the memories of growing up with you.” Noelle said, as Acier rubbed her back gently. “To be honest, I think I do have a part of this Noelle inside me still. Like I said, I don’t remember anything, but every person in this world I feel just as attached to as the ones from mine. Even Fana, who was an enemy before, I can’t help but love.” Noelle confessed as Acier rubbed her back soothingly.

“That makes me happy to hear Noelle,” Acier said, confusing Noelle, “That means my daughter hasn’t been erased. But still, you are so like her in every way, you really do just seem like my Noelle, just more confident and grown up. Of course I would have like to see that journey of growth for myself, but I know I’m proud of the person you are now, and I’m sure the me of your world would have been glad the last thing she could do was give birth to you.” Noelle could only nod, still crying a bit. Acier huffed a bit, standing and pulling Noelle up with her.

“Listen here Noelle. I know not everything is perfect, but you’re here, and so am I, ok? We can only work with the hand we’ve been dealt, so there is no point in moping. If you’ve really fused with my Noelle there’s nothing to be done, and like I said, you’re still my daughter, and I love you just as much, no matter what the circumstances are ok? Now, let’s stop crying ok?” Acier said, using her thumbs to wipe her eyes. Noelle nodded finally, choking on a happy laugh.

“Now I think after the day we’ve had, it’s probably time for bed. I know I’m tired, so I’m sure you are too. Besides, now I know you’ve been holding back on me, I’d love to see what you’re really made of in a spar,” Acier said, smiling teasingly.

“Right,” Noelle said, and it felt like the weight of the world was finally lifted off her shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reveal to Acier might seem sudden, but I kind of wanted to just get it done, hope that's alright! Also, if I were to rewrite the fic, I probably would put more focus on the idea of Noelle feeling guilt over the fact she unintentionally snuffed out the soul of another version of herself, but we're here now, and I'm not going to be rewriting previous chapters until I've finished already, if I even do. Hope the Acier/Noelle interactions were good, I know people like those!
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, and please leave a review if possible!


	20. Chapter 20

After the taxing previous day, Noelle slept in for the first time since joining the Magic Knights. Normally someone would have come to wake her up early in the morning to give her time to prepare for the day, but Acier had made sure to allow all three of them to properly rest. 

Walking into the dining room, Noelle stifled a laugh at the sight of Yuno and Asta awkwardly trying to show proper manners. Yuno was better at it, probably a bit more adjusted after living with a royal family for several months, but Asta was hopeless. Her etiquette instructor from childhood would have an aneurysm looking at the way he fumble with his cutlery, but Acier wasn’t bothered in the least, happily engaging the two boys in conversation.

“Ah, Noelle, good to see you up dear. Are you hungry?” Acier asked brightly. Shaking her head no, Noelle took a look up and down her mother in curiosity. Noelle had only over seen her mother dress in elegant, long flowy dresses, and even if sometimes the neckline plunged a tad, the skirts always stayed around ankle length. Seeing her in a skirt that went above her knees was certainly strange.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Noelle asked bluntly.

“Tch, don’t be rude Noelle. Just because I’m a bit older, doesn’t mean I can’t wear shorter skirts,” Acier admonished teasingly. Noelle sputtered, insisting she didn’t mean it like that, but Acier waved her off. 

“I told you didn’t I? I plan on seeing what you can do going all out,” Acier said smiling, “Actually, I’d like to test all three of you if that’s alright.”

“Won’t that be a bit much for you, Miss Acier?” Asta asked hesitantly, looking between the other two teens. 

“I guess we’ll see Asta, that is if you’re up for it.” Once agin Acier smiled, but there was a bit more of an edge to this one. Asta’s competitive nature wouldn’t let that slide, and neither would Yuno’s, and the two readily agreed.

“Well than, if you two boys are finished eating, why don’t we get to it.”

After that Acier led them out to the gardens. This time though instead of like when she fought Mereoleona, Acier stopped on the stairs.

“Asta, can you fly with your powers?” Acier asked, much to his surprise.

“Y-yeah, I can, no problem.”

“Good then, I don’t really think this garden here is the appropriate place to be going all out do you?” With that Acier donned her own Valkyrie armour, which Noelle copied soon after. Asta gushed a bit abut how cool Noelle’s mom was, much to Noelle’s embarrassment, but quickly pulled out his sword and stepped on it. Yuno and Acier looked a bit surprised, as he floated on the sword, despite sensing no magic coming from it. Shaking her head, Acier leapt up, and with a shout of ‘follow me’ sped off high above the city. The three were a little startled by the pace she was setting, wondering why she had opted to go that fast. In her armour Noelle was able to keep pace fairly comfortably, but she noticed both Asta and Yuno were pushing themselves quite hard without their own transformations, and they were no doubt too prideful to use them.

After about ten minutes of travel, Noelle saw Acier slow down finally above a mountainous area. Going down into a valley, Acier smiled as she saw the three land shortly after her. They were a bit sweaty, but none of them were out of breath, which was a good sign. 

“I have a decent idea about what Noelle can do, so I’d like to start with you two boys if that alright? Come at me together, or apart, whichever you prefer.”

“Me first Yuno!” Asta yelled, pulling out a second sword and transforming into his black form. Yuno muttered below his breath, but let the eager anti-magic user have his way.

Asta shot forward, a grin on his face as his body welcomed the feeling of the form for the first time. While he could deal with anti-magic better than he had been able to at this age the first time round, and he could control it very well, there was no doubt that stamina would be an issue. The only way he had found he could improve on maintaining his black form was practice and repetition, so he’d have to make due on a smaller time frame. A shame there was no way his body could handle the Devil Union though, he’d love to see the looks on all their faces, especially Yuno.

Cutting down, Asta wasn’t surprised when Acier easily reacted in time, twirling out of the way and flying above. Spinning to face her, he shot a black slash at her, which she responded too by raising a hand, prompting a wall of heavy steel to shield her. Asta grinned lightly when his slash cut into her defence, causing the experienced former captains eyes to raise in surprise. Even at the short range though, Acier was able to react to the unexpected attack, arching back into a mid air backflip as his attack harmlessly went over her head.

That was fine though, he had expected that. Asta had surged as much power to his legs as he could handle, instantly appearing over the women, sword coming down as fast as he could. This time he did get frustrated as she somehow reacted once again to his assault, casually pushing herself off seemingly thin air as she evaded his strike.

‘Mana zone,’ Asta realised, before he was shocked from his thoughts by a hard smack to the back of the head, sending him tumbling to the floor.

Gritting his teeth, he shot back in the air, this time going for a more basic strategy of trying to overwhelm her with his close combat. Acier kept her composure though, gliding around his attacks seemingly effortlessly. Deciding he needed to mix it up. He pushed the anti-magic into his sword, effectively increasing its range a good foot. 

This time, instead of backing up, Acier ducked under the attack, and lashed out with a steel reenforced first. The forward momentum of Asia only increased the damage done, as he harshly coughed, completely winded from just a punch.  
He was angry at his drop off in power, and he could already sense he was coming to his limit with the black form. He wasn’t going to let her beat him though without at least making her show a little more of her full power.

Getting into his stance, Asta focused all of his power into his sword, and he was satisfied by the surprise he put on her face once again, no doubt shocked to see his sword seeming expand dozens of times over as the anti-magic shaped a huge sword that towered over her position in the sky. Bringing it down he wasn’t surprised when she dodged, but he didn’t stop there. Focusing intently, Asta let the shape of the anti-magic go slightly, instead forming the whip he had used against Dante, and Noelle, not that he recalled that though. 

This time Acier had to actually work hard to avoid the attack, the unpredictable nature of the attack causing her to second guess her self, and the fact her mana-zone wasn’t letting her predict its movement delaying her reaction slightly. 

Dropping the heavy sword, Asta leapt up at the slightly disorientated woman, and slashed at her with his smaller, faster sword. He grinned as she arched away from him, not soon enough though, as he could tell from the arc of his sword, he would cut her.

He grunted in shock though as just before he was about to land the blow, a pillar of steel from below them erupted upwards, smashing painfully into his arm, and knocking him off balance, making him miss his attack. To make matters worse, the pillar seemingly had a mind of its own, wrapping around his arm tightly, before retracting back down to the ground where it had risen from and sending him face first into the unforgiving rock surface.

Rolling over with a pant, Asta couldn’t help but feel immensely disappointed with his effort. He knew Acier was strong as a captain, maybe stronger, but he had been preparing to defeat Dante before he died. The fact he couldn’t even compete was deeply frustrating.

“You ok, Asta?” Noelle asked over him. Yuno was seemingly uninterested in comforting him, already taking a stand in front of Acier, fusing with his spirit.

“Yeah, just annoyed at how much weaker I am,” Asta said honestly, accepting her offered hand.

“Well, you’ve only just become aware of the fact you are weaker, so its only to be expected. I’ve been training for a while now to try and get back to where I was. Not only that, but you rely the most on physical stamina, so you have to be realistic I guess. Knowing you, you’ll already be training before you even recover from today, so I doubt it will take too long.”

“Right! I’ll just have to train twice as hard as before and I’ll be back to normal in no time!” Asta said, renewed confidence filling him.

“Thats not what I meant, stupid,” Noelle sighed, but didn’t comment, instead focussing on Yuno.

Yuno was a much more tactical fighter than Asta, and also had much more weapons to work with. If his opponent could outspend Asta and outlast his anti-magic, he was a bit screwed, since he generally did best up close, and against those on captain level, he needed his black form to have a chance.

Seeing Asta get beat like that wasn’t too concerning to Yuno, as he noticed he was much weaker relative to his peak than Yuno was, and as such felt he could do much better. He noticed Acier was barely breathing heavy though, and there was barely a dent in her magic reserves. The result of having perfect mastery over the immense mana royals were born with he supposed.

Already in his spirit dive, Yuno started cautiously, firing a spirit storm from range, which Acier comfortably blocked this time with a wall of steel. Using his mana zone he tried to surprise her with another from behind her, but she simply rose above it. He couldn’t help but notice that even though his two spirit storms hit the steel wall she made in basically the same spot, it held firm. The only other steel magic user he knew was Klaus, but there was basically nothing to compare the two with. Acier seemed to be able to use steel in a similar way Nozel used his mercury, incredibly flexibly, with even more sturdiness, where as Klaus had to stick to very rigid structures.

The only spell that could have a chance was Spirit of Zephyr. Bringing the sword out, he leapt up to her and clashed his sword against her lance. He was pleased when his sword managed to disintegrate even the powerful steel, causing Aicer to keep back and send out a barrage of steel swords.

Attempting to use his Spirits Hushed Dance, his eyes opened in disbelief as the spell failed to work, and he desperately leaned out of the way of the swords, getting several nicks over his body, an especially painful one on his cheek, blood flowing instantly.

“It seems you don’t know,” Acier said, making Yuno look at her curiously, “When two mana zone users fight, the one with more powerful mana can dictate the zone. I sensed you trying to expand your mana through the area, so I used my own to disrupt the spell.” Despite smiling when saying this, the lance on her hand reformed, elongating into a vicious looking spear, which she then hurled at Yuno.

Not having time to dodge, he raised his sword just in time to meet the spear head on, and he breathed a momentary sigh of relief as the spear split in two around him, but he quickly regretted letting his guard down, as the two split halves of the spear twisted around him, binding his arms to his sides.

Looking up, Yuno saw Acier barreling down at him, and he quickly raised a massive tornado around himself to defend as he struggled out of his steel bindings. Acier was able to break through his spell first though, and he grunted as she kicked him in the gut, sending him crashing to the ground. Yuno had sparred Noelle, and had seen Nozel in action against Patry, but neither compared to the woman he was fighting. If anything, it was as though she had all of the raw fire power of Noelle, but also the technique and control of Nozel. 

Yuno tried desperately to struggle out of the steel, but without his Zephyr he couldn’t manage it. Only Asta would have the raw strength needed to get out of it, and so with a huff, he conceded.

“I give.”

“Don’t look so down Yuno, I was really impressed with that sword of yours! To be able to break through my defence with wind magic is incredible!” Acier praised genuinely, as she released him from the spell.

“Well, it’s your turn Noelle!” Acier said, still in the same place she started in.

“Right!” Noelle yelled back as she prepared herself.

“You did good Yuno, at least she had to use a new spells to beat you. All she did to beat me was dodge,” Asta said.

“Thanks I guess. Though I get the feeling she could have just avoided me as well. It’s probably just more likely she didn’t know what would work against your anti-magic, so it was best to just avoid you and get you when you wore yourself down,” Yuno said, dropping down next to his rival.

“I guess. Miss Acier’s amazing though, I can definitely see why even Sisgoleon would struggle. I wonder if Noelle will get that strong someday!” Asta said. Yuno nodded, also curious. He hadn’t thought much about Noelle as a fighter, even after she showed off impressive attack power in the royal knight exam. He’d heard from Mimosa though that she had gotten much stronger in the elf invasion, and massively powered up even further training in Heart. 

“Mmhh. She’ll probably be captain by the time I’m wizard king.”

“Right! Hey - you mean when I’m wizard king bastard!”

“Well those two were fun. They have good battle instincts, and I can tell with a bit more training they’ll be very strong. I hope you can show me the same level Noelle,” Acier said.

“I won’t disappoint you!” Noelle said as she closed the distance between them. Much like with the other two though, Acier was able to lean and move just out of range on all of Noelle’s attacks, though she also didn’t hit back, seeing what Noelle was up too. To Asta and Yuno, it looked like the two were dancing and not fighting, their movements much more graceful than their own.

“Sea Dragons Roar!” Noelle yelled as she shot out a full power roar. As she expected, Acier dodged, and then smiled as she added two commands to the spell with runes; ‘grow bigger’, and ‘follow’. Acier’s eyes widened as instead of burying into the mountains face, the dragon swerved abruptly, easily doubling in size in the process, and honed in on her no matter what evasive maneuverer she took. Eventually she realised she was getting no where with dodging, and struck out at the impressive attack with her own. Using her mana zone, she materialised a massive steel sword over the dragons head just as it closed in on her, and swiftly brought it down, cutting the head off and successfully stopping the spell.

Looking around, she wondered why Noelle hadn’t tried to attack herself while she was dodging, but found her standing on the ground below her, standing in the middle of a rune circle, which Acier then realised was the Heart Kingdom’s technique. Before she could think anymore on what caused Noelle to learn them, she was enveloped in an icy cold pillar of water, which had erupted from the rune circle Noelle was standing in. Acier could still see and move, but she did notice that there was a strong current spinning in the water pillar, making it more difficult to do either. Looking around, she wondered where Noelle was, as the water made it hard to sense as the whole pillar was saturated with Noelle’s mana.

She got her answer though, as from the corner of her eye, she spotted Noelle moving, though the next instant she was gone. Eyes widening she spun around, just blocking the attack from Noelle, barely sensing the disturbance in the water in time. If it weren’t for the fact she’d choke, Acier would have gasped at the new form Noelle was in. 

“Valkyrie Dress: Mermaid Form,” Noelle said, apparently unconcerned by the lack of oxygen. Acier got over her shock at the new form, and smiled proudly. She had never thought to alter the Valkyrie armour, so seeing Noelle enhance it to make the most of her water magic made Acier very happy.

Still, she wouldn’t be able to stay in here very long, her oxygen supply quickly running low. Pushing away, Acier moved away from Noelle and tried to make it to the exit. To her surprise, in this environment, Noelle was able to out speed her, appearing in front of her once again, this time sending a sea dragon’s roar instead of clashing lances. With the size of the attack, Acier found it easier to block than dodge, and while the wall of steel she made creaked under the pressure, it held strong.

This was a problem though. If Noelle could keep her in the water, then she would drown. Looking at the situation, Acier realised it was less that Noelle had sped up, and more she had slowed down. Noelle could apparently move freely in the water despite the strong current, where as she could not. Looking down, Acier analysed the rune circle before a realisation struck her. 

Quickly forming a dozen steel blades, Acier shot them down to the bottom of the water pillar, and watched in satisfaction as they successfully cut through the runes, and the spinning current of the water stopped. Smiling, Acier realised Noelle must have been commanding the water to spin.

Now though, there wasn’t much Noelle could do. Acier had regained her speed advantage, and with it she quickly flew out of the water, gulping in large breaths of air. Looking back, she saw Noelle hesitate, and in that moment she moved, a huge steel sword bisecting the water vertically, which Noelle barely avoided.

Noelle herself, frowned, annoyed she wasn’t able to get her mother. Transforming back into her normal Valkyrie form, she was about to move back to try and think of a new plan, but Acier was already above her, and grabbing hold of her shoulders, she flew straight down, driving her knee into her stomach is she hit the ground, effectively knocking the air out of her.

“Noelle! You were amazing! That mermaid form is awesome as usual!” Asta gushed.

“Shut up idiot,” Noelle coughed, still catching her breath.

“I agree though Noelle. You really caught me off guard, I’ve never thought myself to alter the Valkyrie form. I’m impressed. Actually, all three of you have impressed me a lot. People your age shouldn’t be able to catch me off guard, but you all managed it in some way or another. I can see you’re all disappointed in yourself, but don’t worry. I can tell with a bit more training, you’ll surpass me soon enough,” Acier said. While she was right that they were all a bit disheartened, her words of encouragement landed, and they nodded determinedly.

“Well, do you think you’re all up to travel back now? We can take our time.” Again, the former captain got nods, and they all headed back to the palace.

“Man, your mom is way too strong Noelle, there wasn’t a thing I could do against her,” Asta complained as they ate lunch.

“Well what do you expect? Even Lady Mereoleona can't defeat her, it’s only to be expected we couldn’t beat her. Though I wish we could have done more.”

The three continued chatting while they finished their food, but just before they left, Noelle stopped when she saw a very stressed looking Nozel walk through the dining room, barely sparing them a glance.

“Brother, what’s the matter?” Noelle asked before he walked out. Noelle saw him stiffen slightly, before he turned to her.

“Noelle, I suppose it will only be a matter of time before you find out anyway. The Wizard King is officially stepping down. He has selected either myself or Fuegoleon as his successor, pending on the outcome of a trial he is setting for us.”

‘What?’ Noelle and Yuno thought in silent shock.

“What?! Why?!” Asta screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, sorry for the slightly late update! I wrote and re-wrote this like three time, for some reason it wasn't clicking like I wanted, and it still doesn't to be honest, but oh well. I tried to make it clear none of the three were able to do much against a captain level opponent, which I think is pretty canon given current feats and the fact I've scaled them all back a bit, and Asta a lot, so I hope no one is upset by the depictions of the characters. Feel free to ask about anything if you want clarification on the way any characters fought! I think I've said before, but Asta is hard to write fighting, because with his abilities I feel either means he wins easily, or just gets destroyed by someone much faster and stronger. Acier was also hard, as she doesn't have any on screen abilities, other than Valkyrie armour, so in the end I went with a sort of fusion between Noelle and Nozel. I just wish we could see Noelle's ultimate magic and Asta's devil union, because I don't really want to make something up for canon just to shit on it lmao. 
> 
> Anyway, hope it's better to read than it was to write, and please comment if you can!


	21. Chapter 21

Over the next several days, the capital city, and the magic knights more generally, waited eagerly for an explanation as to why their greatest protector, the Wizard King, decided to step down. He was still in his prime, and no one, not even the most arrogant of royals, questioned who was in fact the most powerful mage. So for a man who had appeared so dedicated to his work, to just step down was a bitter pill to swallow.

That led to the next big question though; who would take his place? By now, everyone knew that Fuegoleon and Nozel were the two candidates, to no one’s surprise as both had been rather vocal about their desire to become wizard king. 

“Hello everyone! I hope all is well!” Julius said, speaking to the kingdom via a large scale communication magic, images of his face popping up suddenly all around the country. This wasn’t unusual for the citizens however, as this had become a fairly normal way for them to receive important news, and so no one was too shocked by it.

“Now, I’m sure you all must have heard by now, I am indeed stepping down as the Wizard King. Unfortunately, I have a personal problem which interferes with my ability to properly fulfil my roles, and thus I can’t continue. But fear not! As of now, there are two especially capable young men who can surely surpass me. Once again, while you may have heard rumours, let me make it official. Fuegoleon Vermillion and Nozel Silva are the two candidates who will be considered for the next king, and to determine which, they will be participating in a trial, which I personally made. Unfortunately, the details of the trial will be kept secret for security reasons, but once the winner has been decided, you will all be informed as soon as possible. Please, let me to thank you all for allowing me to be Wizard King for these past years. This country is truly my pride and joy, so while it pains me to step down, I am happy to leave when we are stronger than ever.”

“Well, that was vague,” Yuno said, as he, Asta and Noelle processed what they had just been told. The trio had been training in the royal gardens by themselves, and when the announcement came.

“Well, that’s typical of the wizard king don’t you think?” Noelle asked in response, prompting a nod from the two boys. “I’m just curious as to what they trial is he’s talking about. Nozel still hasn’t said anymore about it, so I assume he hasn’t been told the exact details of it either.”

“I hope it’s a battle between them! Those two are each others rivals, so the battle would be incredible for sure!” Asta said, stars in his eyes just thinking about it.

“Have you already forgotten Asta? Wizard King is about merit. No way will the fate of the kingdom be decided by a single fight, especially considering Fuegoleon had the element advantage,” Yuno said. 

“Well the, what do you think it is jerk?” Asta huffed.

“Who knows,” Yuno said breezily. Asta stood up, ready to start a fight no doubt, which Yuno shrugged off without issue. Noelle looked at her crush, wondering why he was able to brush off much worse insults from anyone else, but Yuno got under his skin like no one else could.

“Noelle, your brother has called for you. It’s time to go to the base,” Acier said as she walked out. Since he had been informed he was one of the candidates for wizard king, Nozel had been extremely on edge, and she had hardly seen him, or her mother in fact. She imagined they were off training, both physically and mentally, because despite Yuno mocking Asta, there was a good chance some form of combat would be done. 

This meant that she had been largely left to her own devices, with Nebra being left in charge of the Silver Eagles. Since she could get away with not doing normal missions, Noelle had spent her time training hard with Asta and Yuno, as they continued their goal of returning to their former strength, She had even been learning new techniques with Yuno, him helping her with mana zone, and her instructing him on mana method, so hopefully she would even surpass her former self. Asta of course was abusing the plethora of magic recovery items the royal houses held, basically doing nothing but train over the past several days, as he had fallen behind herself and Yuno.

“Ok. Can I bring Asta and Yuno too?” Noelle asked.

“Sure, we’re meant to be looking after Yuno, and Nozel knows Asta, so there shouldn’t be a problem!” Well, at least Acier was optimistic about it. Nozel hadn’t exactly said anything, but he seemed one step away from ripping Asta’s head off at all times.

“Well, let’s go then.”

Arriving at the Silver Eagles base was uneventful, even if Asta made a fool of himself as usual when he gushed at all the fancy architecture. Walking through, she noticed that there was no one around, and eventually she ventured out into the courtyard at the back of the base, where she saw everyone standing neatly in lines. Nozel was stood on a slightly elevated platform, with Nebra behind him, as they waited for the last of the members to file in. Once he spotted Noelle though, he cleared his throat to get attention, and Noelle felt slightly embarrassed and guilty that he had been waiting for her arrival.

“As you all are aware, the trials for my potential ascension to Wizard King will begin shortly. However, what you don’t know is that everyone here will be involved in this. The best indicator for a good wizard king is how one runs their squad. We have routinely swapped between first, second and third places at the star festival. At the coming festival, the new king shall be announced. The squad who achieves the highest number of stars will have their captain become king. In that way, my future rests in your hands. I have no doubt in any of you however, and I know that no matter the outcome, you will honour yourselves, and your squad.” As Nozel finished, a few of the rowdier members of the team started cheering, screaming they would not let their captain down. This had a ripple affect, and soon the normally subdues squad was crying out their desire to help their captain. Noelle was a bit surprised just how motivated she felt all of a sudden. While it was true most saw Fuegoleon as a more natural leader, the stoic personality of Nozel meant that when he did in fact open up to his subordinates, they responded powerfully.

Even Nozel seemed slightly taken aback at just how much support they were giving him, and let out a rare but genuine smile, before he composed himself again.

“You have my thanks. Now, of course the nature of the coming month means that more missions than usual will be allocated to both the Silver Eagles and the Crimson Lions. Many of you will be chosen to lead mixed squads to prove you have leadership and combat ability. We have 30 days to gather as many stars as possible. Beyond that however, the Wizard King will be assigning myself and Fuegoleon an individual mission each, however the details of them are secret. I’m sure if we both succeed at what we are given, then it is only a matter of time before I become the wizard king. That is all, and thank you.”

Once again, cheers went up, but as Nozel left, they dispersed, before an excited buzz went around the courtyard as everyone was hyping themselves up for the coming month.

“Well that’s kind of boring. Just complete missions like normal basically, and the interesting part is still kept secret,” Yuno complained as he lounged against a wall.

“Hey, it’s not like you need to do anything anyway, stop complaining,” Noelle said as he shrugged unapologetically.

“Yeah Yuno! This is a big moment for Captain Nozel and Fuefgoleon! Don’t rain on their parade. Though, now that I think about it, I think I’d rather have Fuegoleon be king. No offence Noelle, but as awesome as your bro is, he’s kind of mean,” Asta said thoughtlessly, thinking of how he had been cruel to Noelle when they were younger, and also how he was about to kill Patry in cold blood. Unfortunately for him, Noelle did take some offence, and punched him in the shoulder.

“He is not! He just struggles expressing himself, that’s all!” 

“Guess it runs in the family then,” Yuno snarked, prompting a glare from Noelle. Taking a deep breath, Noelle forced herself to calm down.

“Either of them will be great kings, I’m sure, but no way am I going to let my brother down,” Noelle said. Asta smiled at her determination, and even though he sighed, Yuno silently praised her as well.

“Hey Noelle, brother wants to see you,” Nebra said, “Privately,” she added once she saw the two boys with her try to follow. Asta sulked, but didn’t follow, and Yuno just closed his eyes as he leant back against a wall.

“Brother, what is it?” Noelle asked once she had closed the door to his office.

“Well, like I said, some of you will be having to lead missions given to us. I left out the fact that this will mostly be based off of seniority however, because that may demotivate some of the newer members,” Nozel responded.

“I see,” Noelle said, feeling slightly disappointed, “Then I guess that means I’ll have a fairly limited role then this month.”

“Well that is why I called for you. Noelle, despite trying to be impartial to my family, I can not ignore the fact that while I trust every member of the squad, I know no one will try as hard to support me as my family. Because of that, I’ve cut a few corners. Normally being promoted takes time, however, we don’t have time. So, I pulled a few strings, and as of now, you are being promoted to a 5th rank senior magic knight. This puts you as one of the highest ranked members, and as such you will be taking charge of many missions for me. I’ve spoken to mother, and she agrees you are ready for such a role. Can you do that for me?” Nozel asked sincerely. She didn’t need time to think.

“Of course! I’ll do everything I can to make sure your dream is fulfilled brother!” Noelle shouted. She blushed quickly after though, having never so loudly expressed herself to him. Nozel simply chuckled though, and pulled her into a hug of gratitude. Noelle stiffened, forgetting that this Nozel was much more affectionate to her., before returning the hug full force.

“That's good Noelle. If you want to start now, you can go to Nebra. She’ll be in charge of distributing the missions while I’m away, and she knows of your rank now.”

With that, Noelle nodded, and walked out the door with a spring in her step. Walking over to Nebra, she barged past the members already waiting for a mission, and received her own, something about bandits. It recommended several people, but it was only allocated to the Silver Eagles, meaning she was free to handle it however she saw fit. Running out of the base, she transformed into her Valkyrie armour, and leapt into the air.

“Hey where are you going!? What about us!!!” Asta screamed as he ran out after her, his voice loud and clear despite the distance between them.

“Find something to do! I’m busy!” Noelle screamed back, before rushing off.

“For a royal, she has surprisingly little in terms of manners,” Yuno commented as they watched her quickly become a dot in the distance.

“Coming from you?” Asta asked incredulously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On to the next part of the story! Should take a few chapter before we're done with it, so hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment if you can!


	22. Chapter 22

The next month passed in a blur of missions, training and more missions for Noelle. While she would have liked to just focus on gathering as many stars as she could for Nozel, her mother and sister were reluctant to let her do too much for herself, especially after her first mission, where she had been a bit too overeager and ended up getting some minor injuries for ignoring warnings. 

She still did training with Yuno and Asta when she could find time, and she could tell the two boys were going a bit stir crazy from basically being left to wander around the palace. Yuno had many offers to be taught by some of the old tutors on hand at the palace, but he could care less for what some old noble idiots had to say. Asta could keep himself busy like no one else by training, but even he was starting to get quite bored.

Noelle couldn’t blame them, but she also wasn’t willing to stop herself. She had tried to get them to be allowed to go on a mission with her, but Yuno was forbidden because of his position, and while they weren’t exactly hiding Asta, they weren’t especially eager to put him out in the open in case Yami and the other Black Bulls were to make a sudden reappearance and take him.

Nozel himself had been entirely absent for the entire time. True to his word, he and Fuegoleon had vanished off the face of the earth, leaving their squads to show themselves off as much as possible without the guidance of their captains, in order to show the leadership and combat experience they had gained under the two older Royals. Noelle had asked her mother if she knew anything about them, but she did not, much to Noelle’s disappointment.

The past month had been difficult, of that there was no doubt. While it wasn’t too physically taxing, there was a huge mental drain on not only her, but all of the senior members of the squad, who had to deal with the lions share of the stress and pressure of achieving their captains dream. Joint missions were tough, and she bet money that the Wizard King had instructed all participating squads to make things as difficult as possible for the members of both the Silver Eagles and the Crimson Lions.

Before this month, Noelle had considered herself a fairly competent leader, not amazing, but could handle herself regardless. She quickly realised though she had some major shortcomings. While she was reasonably good at communicating with people, especially in terms of missions, she had a crippling shortage of patience. On one of her first missions as a leader of a mixed group, she had to deal with incompetence so severe she actually hoped the Wizard King put them up to it, with a mix of stupid errors and outright disrespect due to the fact she was only a rookie. She had not taken kindly to it, and the friction between her and the rest of her assigned squad was impossible to ignore. It was a simple mission, something about finding a band of thieves who had robbed a nobles house, but in the end, they were beaten to the punch by a smug Leopold, who had apparently charmed his squad with his typical Vermillion charisma. She had been so mad she would have happily beaten them all within an inch of their lives, and when she had raged about it to her mother, Acier had been sympathetic, but stern.

“Noelle, you must remember that no two people are the same. It is easy to think because you have a good working relation with those you normally go on missions with you can do it with everyone, but if you want to succeed as not only a soldier, but a leader, you must show more maturity.”

That had taken the wind out of her sails somewhat, though she still powered on, hoping to be able show the growth her mother had talked about. Generally, it had been a success, and Noelle had tried her best to be more grown up and actually take in the advice given to her, and she since hadn’t failed to complete a mission first.

Now though, it was the evening before the star festival, and she felt a horrible twist in her gut whenever she thought about the following day. It didn’t help that Nozel was still absent, and as a result left a tense group of Silva children, an exasperated mother, and two very, very bored teenage boys sitting around a dinner table with nothing to say to one and other, despite the fact this was the first time they’d all been in the same place for the entire month.

“So Solid, how have you been finding leading missions? I know you have been assigned some as well,” Acier asked, trying to spark a conversation.

“Yes Solid, do tell. How have been doing on those missions?” Nebra asked through gritted teeth. Solid glared right back.

“Well, they were going fine, thank you very much, until I was dragged down by some worthless Green Mantis members. Honestly, to have me on the same missions as commoners? How could that ever be a good idea?” Solid responded haughtily. Despite being commoners themselves, well at last for a large part of their lives, neither Asta or Yuno seemed especially bothered by his insults, far too used to it. Both Acier and Noelle were about to say something, but Nebra beat them to it.

“Are you really so petty?! Our brother needed us to achieve as much as possible this month, and you couldn’t even let go of some prejudice just for a single month?” Nebra practically screamed at him. Noelle watched with muted interest. Solid and Nebra had been thick as thieves in her world, and the two seemed close here too. As well as that, her Nebra would never scold Solid for something like refusing to work with peasants, and would in fact likely praise him. While Noelle definitely agreed with the sentiment Nebra had, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything, momentarily more interested in this new dynamic.

“W-well, what do you have to say for yourself? You’ve been sat back doing nothing to actually help the squad, you’re just doing admin. You probably only care so much because you know you’ll probably become captain if Nozel becomes Wizard King,” Solid spat. This was quickly escalating and now Noelle’s fascination had been replaced by awkwardness at being in the middle of such an argument, which the two boys also clearly felt. Nebra looked ready to explode, but before it could go any further, Acier intervened. 

“Solid, that’s enough. No matter what you say, Nebra is doing her best to support Nozel while he can not fulfil his role as captain. I’m sure it was difficult leading missions with people from different backgrounds, but you must learn to behave yourself. You’re not a child anymore, so stop acting like one,” Acier scolded harshly. She didn’t really know where Solid got it from, his anger at seemingly everything. Nozel was arrogant for sure, but he wasn’t cruel, and while Nebra had been difficult when she was a younger teen, by the time she was 18, she had mellowed out considerably. Noelle was too quiet to really express any negative views, and now she was a future version of herself, she’d never know what kind of problems she would have caused, but she had a feeling that Noelle wasn’t the type to really hate anyone unless they did something unforgivable. 

“Oh what a surprise, of course you’d side with her, it always the same with you, Mother!” Solid said, and that did make her feel a pang of guilt. While she had always done her best, it was hard sometimes to give all of her children equal attention. Nozel had required her help the most magically, being the only one to inherit her attribute, and as the oldest had gone on to replace her as captain. Noelle had always needed extra care and attention too, as she had been shy to a damaging degree, and Acier was basically the only person Noelle felt comfortable with, even in her own home, except for maybe Nozel. Nebra and Solid had both needed less attention than the other two from that point of view, and it seemed Nebra was content being independent. Solid however… it seemed she had misjudged how much guidance he needed, as now he was a young man, the only thing he seemed to feel was bitterness.

“Don’t bring mother into this, all this is because you can’t grow up Solid!” Nebra screamed. Slamming his hands on the table, Solid shot up, sent everyone a glare, and then marched off. After a moment of awkward silence, Aicer stood.

“I will go have a word with him.”

“Just leave him,” Nebra muttered, but was ignored as Acier left the room. Nebra huffed, before looking at the three teens in front of her, all of whom looked like they would all rather be anywhere else. Sighing, she took pity on them, and left, leaving the three alone.

“Hey Noelle, are all your family dinners like this?” Asta asked curiously.

“Of course not, idiot. Everyone is just stressed right now, so it’t only natural tempers are flying.”

“I guess. Still though, at least your sister seems like less of a jerk this time!” Asta grinned. Noelle couldn’t help but agree, though she didn’t voice it. Yuno didn’t hesitate though.

“Yeah, though her brother could still use some work,” Yuno said dryly. Asta hummed in agreement.

“Right, imagine if we spoke to Father or Sister like that, there’d be no food for a week!” Asta said.

“You were the only one who bothered them enough to find out, so I wouldn’t know.” Asta grumbled, as Noelle laughed, imagining a small Asta.

“Ughh, I just want this stupid Wizard King thing to be decided. You’ve been all over the place this month, but me and Yuno have been so bored Noelle,” Asta complained.

“Yeah, well I want it out of the way too. I’ve been so stressed these past few weeks.”

“Why? Surely as you are now, none of the Crimson Lions could have put up the workload you have?” Yuno asked curiously.

“You’d think right? I just don’t know, I have a bad feeling about whatever is happening tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it Noelle. You already said right, both will be amazing Wizard Kings, so I’m sure either way it will be fine. Besides, I bet you’re just underestimating yourself, if it’s you who was doing it, there’s no way the Crimson Lions stand a chance!” Asta grinned.

“Y-yeah, I hope so,” Noelle said, trying and failing to hide a blush. 

The time was finally here. Noelle had been shuffling around the festival with Yuno and Asta for about an hour now, but she couldn’t get into it at all. All she could think about was the coming results, and at every slight noise, she’s spin to the main stage where the captains would soon be. While they weren’t nearly as bad as Noelle, the two boys were also both very curious as to how this would play out. After a while of wandering, they heard a call out to them.

“Noelle! Come here!” Ah, that was definitely the voice of Leo then. Walking over, she noticed Mimosa was with them, and she practically felt Asta stiffen beside her. Thankfully he was using Liebe to mes with his hair, and while if Mimosa had gotten a good look at him the first time round she could have spotted the difference, the minor disguise was enough to throw her off. It still didn’t help Asta though, because although the memory was hazy at best, he had hear what he had done to Mimosa, and it made him sick to his stomach.

“Oh, if it isn’t my rival as well! Good to see you, Yuno! And, I don’t think the two of us have met, you are?” Leo said, looking at Asta.

“Oh, this is Asta. He’s been hanging around with us this past couple of months, don’t worry too much about him, he’s a bit slow,” Noelle said casually, which Yuno confirmed with a grave nod. Asta wanted to scream, but still felt relieved the attention wouldn’t be on him.

“R-right. Anyway! Are you ready for me brother to become Wizard King? I’m sure you know by now that the Crimson Lions are unmatched!” Leo said cockily. Though she didn’t feel particular pride in being a Silva, it bothered her on what must be a genetic level that Leo could hold that mission above her head.

“Hmff, only in your dreams perhaps, foolish lion,” Noelle said, matching Leo in arrogance, though she suspected hers was far more put on than his.

“Now, now. No need to fight, I’m sure whoever wins, everyone will be happy,” Mimosa said demurely, giggling behind her hand.

“Easy for you to say! Both of them are your cousins, so its a win-win for you!” Leo yelled, which Noelle seconded, only succeeding to make the girl laugh harder.

“Do you have a preference?” Yuno cut in suddenly, staring at Mimosa. Noelle realised suddenly that Yuno had only very briefly interacted in this timeline. While they had been close before, he had hardly seen her in this world. It was probably hard for him not to talk to her more, but after being told about the certain request the King had made to Noelle and Mimosa, Yuno felt slightly reluctant talking to her, as he worried it would make her feel pressured.

“I don’t mind really,” Mimosa said ,”Though, if I had to pick… I guess Fiegoleon-san has always been a bit friendlier, so I’ll go with him I guess?” Leo roared his victory, gleefully rubbing it in Noelle’s face, and Noelle herself was staring daggers at her cousin, mentally cursing her as a traitor.

“Hmm-hmm, excuse me ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention,” Julius’s voice suddenly said on a loud speaker. The crowd gasped for a moment in excitement, before quickly falling silent, as they looked up to the stage, as the captains filed out. On one side of Julius stood Fuegoleon, and on the other, Nozel.

“Now, as you know, this will be final star festival as wizard king. Once again, I must thank you all for letting me serve you these past years. Truly, it has been an honour,” Julius said, bowing to the crowd, which erupted in cheers, some people even crying.

“Well, I know you don’t want to be kept waiting, so let's start shall we! Now, in 8th place, The Grey Deers!” Julius announced. Continuing to countdown to number one, he paused once he read out the Golden Dawn as third, no doubt loving being the only person in the know. Noelle was digging her nails into her palms so hard they bled, and she could hear eve over the crowd Leo’s teeth grinding, apparently not as confident as he had seemed. In fact, the only two who remained completely composed were the two captains in question, both seemingly indifferent to the occasion.

“Well, here we go! In first place…” Julius said, dramatically pausing as the whole kingdom held their breath.

“Oh my! It looks like we have a draw!” Julius announced cheerfully, not even bothering to pretend to be surprised by the outcome.

For a moment there was silent disbelief, as even Nozel and Fiegoleon looked stunned, before there was a massive outpouring of noise. While it was impossible to tell specifically what was said, the general consensus was something along the lines of ‘How can that be!?’

“Well, the thing is, I wanted it to be a fair contest, you see.” Julius said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, “So I gave both squads an opportunity to raise as many points as each other. But this is good! It means both men truly are rivals in terms of their ability to lead and inspire, with both their squads going the extra mile! In terms of merit, this means they’re equal!” Julius announced joyously.

“Then, Wizard King, how his this going to be decided?” William asked, a question the whole kingdom wanted the answer to,

“Well how else? If all other things are equal, the only way we can see who is more deserving is in battle of course!” 

The crowd was silent in disbelief, before erupting once more, now doubt fascinated by the rare chance to tell the strongest mage in the Kingdom.

“Not only that, but Nozel-kun, Fuegoleon-kun, please prepare three of your most trusted subordinates! This will be a desicisve test of power, strategy and leadership!” Julius said. The two captains had recovered from their earlier shock, and both nodded determinedly.

“Well that settles it! Two days from now, the strongest of the Silver Eagles, and the strongest of the Crimson Lions will fight to decide who is really the most deserving of becoming Wizard King!”

While the crowd roared, Noelle felt a massive energy dump, as she slumped over barely able to believe what she had heard. Looking over she saw Leo in a similar state.

“Hey Yuno you bastard, do you know what this means? I was right you jerk, the captains will fight for the Wizard King! Haha, how does it feel?!” Asta yelled. All Yuno could do was look away, unable to come up with a proper response.

“Tch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a filler chapter, mostly character based, but next time there will be plenty of action! If anyone thinks the results was a bit meh, I sort of agree, but I wanted it to go into a sort of royal knight exam situation, and I liked this idea, as I think Julius would have done as much as possible to get these two to fight for real, being the nerd he is. 
> 
> Also! How about that Yuno fire this chapter! Normally it takes me two days to get these written, but I was so pumped from what I saw, I got these 3000 words out in a day. Hopefully Tabata doesn't miss with Noelle or Asta's upgrades in the coming arc, because Yuno is absolutely amazing this chapter!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and as always, please leave a comment, it really helps me know what the readers are feeling with the story!


	23. Chapter 23

“Well, knowing Julius, this doesn’t come as too much of a surprise,” Acier said, trying to calm Nozel, who had taken to pacing around the dinner table.

“I suppose not. Still, this is far from ideal. After all, when it comes to battle, there is only so much I can do to stop the damn Vermillion's. While I could deal with just Fuegoleon, if he chooses Mereoleona for his team there is no hope. Are you sure you’re not willing to participate?” Nozel asked.

“Sorry dear, I would if I could, but I’ve officially retired, so it’s not possible I’m afraid.”

“I see. Well, if that is the case, I must come up with a path to victory with strategy. I already know that I’ll be bringing Noelle and Nebra. The third choice however…” Nozel trailed off.

“You don’t want to choose Solid?” Acier asked with a frown. She had managed to somewhat get through to him after he had blown up at all of them, but she knew there was still a lot of work to be done.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. However I must think about strategy. Solid will most likely be bad for teamwork. And frankly, he doesn’t add much to my squad in terms of utility. Nebra’s mist magic is ideal for support, and Noelle’s water magic is far more powerful than Solid’s. If I were to choose another member, we could increase the diversity in our team, and add to the chances of success.”

“I see. Tactically speaking, you are right of course. However, as your mother I have to ask, please include Solid in this. He already feels isolated from the rest of you, and I fear if you snub him here, there will be no chance for reconciliation.” Acier said seriously.

Nozel sighed as he thought it through. His younger brother was an idiot, that was something he had always known. Jealous, petty, weak, the negative descriptions went on and on. But that was partly his fault as well. He was Solid’s only real male role model, and he had seen the course Solid had been on, but never bothered to try and help him, only berating him for his treatment of Noelle, and otherwise ignored him in favour of gaining strength for his own goals. Now the chance for achieving his goal was here, and he needed all the strength he could get. Looking at his mothers face though, he knew she would be devastated if one of her children ended up hating the rest of them, and beyond that, he would feel immense guilt of his own.

“I suppose I can figure something out. If Mereoleona is there, I suppose there won’t be too much any individual member could do to change the outcome.” 

Acier smiled, happy for that to have been sorted. After that, the two walked into the room were the other three Silva’s were, and they all shot up once they noticed them entering.

“Solid, Nebra, Noelle. You three will be the ones participating in the battle.”

“Hah, was there any doubt!” Solid declared cockily. Asta, who was also sitting in the room, noticed from Nozel’s ki that there was in fact a lot of doubt, but decided to say nothing.

“Anyway, you should all get some rest for tonight. Tomorrow we must prepare ourselves, so I expect you all up early, and ready to work. Understood?” Receiving a chorus of resounding ‘yes’’s, Nozel nodded, before leaving to get his own rest.

Like he had said, Nozel put his younger sibling through their paces the next day. While their was not much to be done for raising their power levels, getting them to listen and coordinate with each other was something that had to be done. Even Solid, who at first was resisting teaming up with Noelle, was eventually put in his place. The two of them would be the primary defences against their opponents. While it was still unclear whether Mereoleona would appear, there was no doubt that they would be fighting several fire users, and as such the two of them were the ones who would have to deal with it. 

Nozel had assured them he could deal with Fuegoleon, and would force him into a stalemate at the very least, which basically meant it was a three on three. Noelle was pretty certain Leo would be fighting, as would Fana. She was uncertain about Mereoleona, as it didn’t really seem like her scene, and as far as she knew, wasn’t even in the capital. If she was there, there wasn’t much Noelle could do, except draw her away and by as much time as possible. That would leave Nebra and Solid to fight Leo and Fana. While theoretically her siblings had the elemental advantage and experience over their opponents, there was no doubt they would come up short in raw power against the fire users.

If Mereoleona didn’t appear though… this fight was basically a wash. She was stronger than Leo and Fana, and Randal too, who would no doubt be the last fighter if not Mereoleona. She knew it wasn’t exactly fair to take advantage of the situation like that, but she had promised to do all she could for Nozel, and if that meant beating the Crimson Lions unfairly, then so be it. 

While training with them, Noelle had gained a bit more respect for her middle siblings abilities. Nebra was an impressive strategist when she wanted to be, and her mist magic allowed for excellent decoys and traps. Solid was also much more impressive than she had given him credit for. The time they fought, he had tried to bully and overpower her, which had failed spectacularly. But he was much more of a tricky fighter than someone who relied on brute force, and when he put his arrogance aside, could be useful with a surprisingly diverse array of water spells.

As their training day ended, Noelle felt good. She wasn’t sure whether they would win, but she was happy that at least they wouldn’t get in each others way at least, and they would do their best.

As the day of the battle arrived, Noelle was struck by how similar it felt too when the captains had all fought against each other, the eyes of the whole kingdom all locked on to the grand spectacle. This battle would also be like the captains battle, and the royal knights exam for that matter, as the outcome would be decided with the same crystal format. Though this wasn’t as high level in terms of the combatants, the stakes were on a different level. Asta had told her he hadn’t even been able to sleep he was so excited, and while she denied it, she was tossing and turning in bed herself, thinking about the outcome.

Arriving at the field where the royal knight exam and captain battle occurred, Noelle felt the tight chord of nerves in her stomach calm down at the sight of the Crimson Lions. Mereoleona had indeed not shown up for the fight. As they walked closer, she noticed Solid let out a breath of relief, and Nebra’s shoulders sunk as well, seemingly relaxed at them. Nozel was exactly the same. Once they were face to face, they all stood in a single line, Nozel and Fuegoleon, Nebra and Randal, Solid and Leo and finally Noelle and Fana all looking at each other.

“I see your sister decided not to show up,” Nozel said monotonously.

“Hmph, as if I would even ask. I would never do something as dishonourable as stacking the deck so heavily in my favour. Worry not, we are more than enough to defeat you regardless.” Despite his ‘honourable’ reply, looking at the way Leo’s face twitched, all the Silva’s correctly came to the conclusion Mereoleona had shot him down.

“So in other words, she didn’t care enough about her brother to make the effort,” Nozel said, allowing emotion to cross his face for the first time as he condescendingly smirked at his rival. Fuegoleon was clearly bothered, but before anymore could be said, the match officials intervened.

“C-captains, if you would calm down please. We are currently broadcasting everything to the kingdom, so we wouldn’t want anything too severe to be said. Now if you would, please use these portals to go to your assigned starting points. There will be a countdown shortly after you arrive, so please, prepare yourselves.”

Swiftly turning anyway from each other, the two captains led their teams through the portal, and once they closed, Noelle noticed a 60 second timer seemingly appear in mid air. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she turned to see what Nozel had to say.

“This is undoubtedly good for us, however don’t take them lightly. Fuegoleon must have known we would have powerful water magic users, so for him to still choose them means he has faith in them. However, the plan remains unchanged. I will draw Fuegoleon to me, and defeat him. This may take time however, so you three must protect the crystal at all costs, and ideally destroy the enemies in the process.”

As the timer finally ticked down to 0, a buzzer went off to signal the start, and with a murmur of ‘good luck’, Nozel flew off into the sky on his mercury magic, leaving his siblings alone.

“Let’s go then,” Nebra commanded. Putting on her Valkyrie dress, Noelle nodded, as she flew high in the air, next to Solid, who had summoned a water eagle to transport him, Near and their crystal. As far as she knew, none of the opposing team could fly, and so taking to the sky made the most sense. Just as they got to the altitude they needed, they saw a huge explosion of fire in the distance, and a moment later, a shockwave of scorching air hit them hard, though it was far enough away to not be damaging, just uncomfortable. The captain must have already engaged.

Just after they noticed the fire, Noelle was surprised to see the three opposing members also flying. Squinting, Noelle saw that Fana must have been working hard, as the Salamander had evolved to a much larger state, big enough to carry herself and Leo. Randal himself wasn’t flying, but was running on platforms created from his air magic.

“Mist magic: Bewildering Forest of Mist,” Nebra said. In an instant, all three of them were surrounded by mist, obscuring them from view. “Noelle, take out the vice-captain, he can’t actually fly, so you have the advantage.”

Nodding, Noelle obeyed, flying high above the cloud of mist, that had now also envoleped there enemies. That was fine. Thanks to her training with Yuno these past months, she had gotten a much better ability to sense mana, although she still couldn’t quite master mana zone. 

Though Noelle couldn’t quite sense his exact location, the thrumming power of the Salamander was a good enough target for her to lock on to. Just as she started to descend on them though, Noelle had to abruptly pull up, calling upon a Sea Dragon’s Lair to protect herself, as suddenly the shroud of mist turned into a huge firestorm.

Flying in the epicentre of the fire was all three of their opponents, with Randal spreading out his air magic, and using it to enhance and control the fire being spewed from both Leo and the Salamander. Panicking, Noelle turned around to look at her siblings. They seemed a bit worse for wear, their clothes having scorch marks and faces covered in ash, but it seemed Solid’s water magic had deflected the worst of the fire. 

Randal was going to be more difficult than she had first anticipated if he could enhance both Leo and Fana to such a degree. In that case, she would have to take him out quickly.

“Sea Dragon’s Roar!” Noelle shouted from above them. It wasn’t a subtle attack, but with the power it held it didn’t need to be. They didn’t have time for another combo, so Leo and Fana shot their own attacks at the dragon to try and deflect it, but her spell easily extinguished it, and continued to shoot down at them. 

The attack had the intended effect, as both Leo and Fana veered off to one direction on Salamander, as Randal jumped another way, separating him from his team.

Rushing forward, Noelle appeared in front of the vice-captain in an instant, raising her lance to hit him with. Though he was surprised by her speed, he was an experienced magic knight and so was able to raise an air shield to deflect her blow somewhat. It still knocked him off of his air platform though, and he was free falling straight to the ground.

Just before he reached it though, he shot out a blast of air, cushioning his fall, though he wasn’t given any time to breathe as Noelle pursued him relentlessly. He had hoped on the ground he would be able to do better against her speed and mobility, and while he was doing surprisingly well at keeping up with her attacks, he couldn’t do anything about the fact she hit much harder than he could defend with his air magic. 

Looking up, Noelle saw that Leo and Fana were rushing in, trying to defend their vice-captain, so Noelle knew she had to act fast. Getting in close, Noelle ducked under one of his air enhanced palm thrusts, and grabbed his wrist as he tried to retract it.

“0-Range Sea Dragon’s Roar!” Noelle yelled, as the enormous dragon swallowed Randal whole. Before she could see the outcome of the attack, Noelle had to jump back to avoid a huge blast of flames shot out of the Salamander. 

“Vice-captain!” Leo shouted as he jumped off of Salamander and ran over to him. Looking over, Noelle was unsurprised to see the outcome, as he laid in a small pool of water, completely unconscious.

“Good job Noelle,” Nebra said as Solid’s water eagle landed next to her. Taking a closer look at the two, Noelle noticed they were a bit worse off from the initial fire attack than she had thought, their skin blistering around their hands and face, though she didn’t comment, just nodding.

“Well, well, this isn’t looking too good for you now, is it Crimson Lions?” Solid taunted. Leo scowled, but couldn’t deny the truth of it. All three of the Silva’s held a type advantage over him and Fana, and without Randal’s air magic, there wasn’t much to be done to stop Noelle from just blasting through them with raw power.

“Leo, look after the crystal,” Fana said from next to him. Everyone looked at her in confusion, as the Salamander took the crystal off it’s back, and put it by Leo, before standing right over Fana.

“I was hoping not to use this before I have it mastered, but I won’t let Captain Fuegoleon down!” The elf girl exclaimed. Noelle looked at her in confusion, wondering what she could be up to, before her eyes widened in shock at the familiar feeling. Training with Yuno so often meant she had no doubt as to what the spirit was doing.

“Spirit Assimilation: Spirit Dive,” Fana said, letting the fiery aura surround her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was going to try do the whole thing in one chapter, but I realised that would take too long, so here we are! Hope you all enjoyed, tell me what you think in the comments!


	24. Chapter 24

Nozel was not having a good time. Not at all.

Despite the front of confidence he had shown to his siblings, fighting Fuegoleon was always going to be an uphill battle. While he had the edge in speed, and general versatility, they were about equal in magic power, and he had the perfect element to fight his mercury. Were this anyone else, Nozel knew he could over come the disadvantage, but Fuegoleon knew his fighting style so well that it was almost possible to come up with a strategy to win. 

“Mercury magic: Silver Executioners Blade,” Nozel murmured as a huge blade of mercury extended from his hand. Fuegoleon dodged, as he expected, though the mountain behind him didn’t survive, cleanly cut in half. While the people watching would be impressed by the display of power, it hadn’t even phased Fuegoleon, who responded with a massive torrent of flames, which Nozel had to use his eagle spell to fly above.

Before either of them had a chance to do anything else, they were both distracted as they felt a massive spike in mana, and despite the distance, they both saw a faint red glow too.

“Hmm, looks like Fans has finally gotten serious.”

‘Fana? The elf girl?’ Nozel thought with a frown. While most elves had huge mana reserves, there weren’t too many who had him outclassed in mana quantity. From what he could tell though, this girl was definitely one of them.

“Fana was born as an Apostle. You understand what that means right? Even you and I couldn’t compete with her in terms of raw mana output. I hope your siblings are prepared,” Fuegoleon informed him, looking uncharacteristically smug.

“You forget my siblings have the type advantage. And besides,” Nozel began, smirking just as another persons mana spiked to match the elf, “You forget, but one of my siblings outclasses us in mana levels too. I wouldn’t get too cocky, Vermilion.”

While she wasn’t aware of Nozel’s confidence in her, Noelle herself was still pretty confident in her ability to handle Fana. When they had fought in the shadow palace, she would have pretty handily beaten her, but her forbidden healing magic wasn’t something she had a counter for. Thankfully she didn’t have that ability this time around, but her fire power was definitely massively increased, though so was her water magic.

“Nebra, Solid, you watch the crystal, I’ll deal with Fana!” Noelle shouted to her siblings. Nebra nodded, wrapping the crystal in a cocoon of mist, and Solid started sending a barrage of water at Leo. 

Darting towards Fana, Noelle started with a simple thrust of her lance, which Fana dodged, taking to the sky with her new wings of fire. Taking a closer look, Noelle noticed they were more draconic looking, as opposed to the feathered wings she had used in their other fight. As well as that, Fana seemed to have sprouted two horns of fire from her temples, and her eyes glowed a fierce yellow. It was certainly impressive to contain that much power in her body, and Noelle wondered how long her body could take the strain. Once Fana had gotten higher in the sky, Noelle attacked.

“Sea Dragon’s Roar!” She yelled. Noelle assumed Fana was going to dodge, and she prepared to intercept her with another attack, but much to Noelle’s surprise, Fana prepared a spell to match it.

“Spirit’s Sun,” Fana said, a compressed orb of white flames appearing in her hands, which she promptly threw right into the mouth of the water dragon. For a moment, Noelle thought Fana’s plan had backfired, and her water magic completely smothered her spell, but the moment was shattered as she felt a scorching heat, hotter than anything she had ever felt erupt, the small orb of flames rapidly expanding from within her spell, destroying it, and leaving a huge cloud of scalding steam. Noelle was mostly fine thanks to her armour, but she would no doubt have some nasty burns on her face. 

“Salamander’s talons,” Fana said, as a fiery aura in the shape of claws surrounded her feet and hands. Darting in, Fana tried to take her at close quarters. Noelle worried that the spirit dive would drastically increase her speed as well, but thankfully only her power seemed magnified. This was Noelle’s range, and Fana was outmatched massively, taking several hard blows from Noelle, as she darted in and out of range easily.

Up close, Noelle saw why she seemed to want to fight closer. Fana was heavily sweating, and panting heavily from the strain of maintaining her form, and it seemed her ‘Spirit Sun’ attack took a lot out of her. It wasn’t too surprising. Yuno had managed to contain his spirit’s power fairly easily, but Salamander was a different level to Bell when it came to raw power, and even with her elven mana, trying to control the Salamander was a difficult task.

Ducking under an attempted scratch from Fana, Noelle landed a hard punch to the girls gut, and then swiftly jumped back, launching another Sea Dragon’s Roar while Fana was still wheezing. She couldn’t react in time, and the attack landed clean, and was about to slam her hard into the ground, but just before it did, Fana summoned up another Spirits Sun, though this time much weaker, and the dragon evaporated around her. 

Looking down upon the battle field from her position, Noelle considered the situation. Leo was still standing, but his basic brawler style was proving ineffective against Nebra’s tricky mist magic, and she and Solid worked in perfect synch, landing several blows on the younger royal, seemingly at will. Right now it was only Leo’s desperation and will that was keeping him up. Though she couldn’t see them, Noelle sensed Nozel was still going fairly strong, though so was Fuegoleon. It didn’t matter too much though, as she finally evaluated Fana’s condition. Though she had escaped being knocked out from the blunt force of being slammed into the floor by her spell. It still took a toll on her, as she was bleeding from several small cuts all over her body. If she had been serious, she could have put more power into the attack, and that would have been it, but she wasn’t confident in her ability to control the attack enough not to kill Fana accidentally, so she had to low ball it.

From her point of view though, the fight was over. Fana and Leo were on their last legs, and she had plenty of power left. Fuegoleon was too far away to the point where even if Nozel dropped now, he still wouldn’t make it.

Flying down, Noelle was going to end it, aiming for the crystal that Leo was protecting. He was preoccupied with her siblings, so at the speed she was descending there was nothing he could do about stopping her. Thrusting forward, Noelle got inches away from crushing the crystal, and from the corner of her eye, she could see Leo’s distraught face.

Just before she landed the final blow however, Noelle, as well as Leo and her siblings were all knocked off balance as an even more outrageous amount of mana spiked from Fana. The heat being emitted from her was enough to completely dispel Nebra’s mist, and as Noelle looked over, she saw the ground underneath her turn to ash, leaving her seemingly levitating over a growing radius of scorched earth.

“I won’t… let you… win,” Fana huffed out, her body glowing an ominous red. Looking closer, Noelle felt a jolt go through her as she realised Fana’s own body was starting to crumble, her skin blistering and blackening as she raised a hand in their direction.

“Fana, stop, you're hurting yourself!” Noelle cried out in sudden panic. The elf seemed lost in her own head though, and Noelle realised that this was likely the spirits nature. Unlike the other great spirits, the Salamander was not an intelligent being, that couldn’t comprehend human speech, and was driven by instinct. This lack of intellect came with other benefits however, such as the outrageous attack power. However, it seemed when used in a spirit dive, its more instinctual nature seemed to corrupt Fana, especially since she was so low on her own mana, and was relying heavily on the Salamander to keep going.

“Ultimate… Spirit Magic,” Fana began, as Noelle’s heart dropped. If she used runes, she was confident she cold overpower Fana with just spirit dive. However, this was now dangerous for everyone, as Fana’s mana continued to skyrocket. The only way she could counter something like this was to use her own ultimate magic. She hadn’t used it once, not even in training since it was so power intensive, but if she didn’t, then they would all really die. She had know idea how she was going to explain herself, but it was something that needed to be done.

However, just as she was preparing herself, she was blindsided as Nozel suddenly appeared in front of her, and she could see Fuegoleon too from over his shoulder. She looked on, wide eyed, as Fuegoleon fearlessly walked over to Fana, despite the pain he must be feeling from the scorching heat. Before anything could be said, he had reached her, grabbed her shoulders and began talking to her. She couldn’t hear what was being said over the sound of Fana’s out of control flames, but soon enough, Fana began to calm, and eventually the heat completely dissipated, as she collapsed forward into her captain’s arms. 

Turning to them, Noelle was unsurprised to find that despite his natural resistance and powerful mana skin, Fuegoleon was suffering pretty bad burns, his skin looking pink and blistered. Still though, he had saved them from what would no doubt be a very unfortunate outcome.

“Leo, come here!” Fuegoleon ordered. That seemed to snap them out of it, as they realised Leo was standing with the Silva’s, his crystal an easy target for them all. However, as he rushed over, not one of them took the cheap shot, and he rejoined his siblings.

“Well Fuegoleon, seems your team has take some pretty severe losses already,” Nozel commented. It was true, Randal and Fana were unconscious, and Leo was basically done. Though, looking at her own siblings, Noelle thought they weren’t in too strong a position. Solid and Nebra were fairly unhurt, but they would be easily defeated if they even tried to get involved in a battle with Fuegoleon. She was fine too, but as she looked at Nozel, she knew that he had been coming up short against his rival, as Fuegoleon seemed to have taken more damage getting close to Fana than he had done against Nozel. Still, if she and Nozel fought together, she was confident she could win.

“No matter Nozel. I will defeat you all here myself. Leo, continue to protect the crystal, you have done well to hold up against these opponents,” Fuegoleon said, causing Leo to nod, as he seemed to gain a second wind from his brothers encouragement. 

“Sol Linea,” Fuegoleon said, not hesitating to attack their crystal head on. Nozel managed to raise a wall of mercury, but they could all see that it was rapidly melting away. Taking matters into her own hands, Noelle shot forward, aiming an attack at Fuegoleon. Releasing his spell, he jumped back only just dodging her.

However in the process of dodging her, he had left Leo exposed, and she took that chance to attack him. Leaping forward faster than he could react, Noelle slammed her lance across Leo’s face, knocking to the floor. He tried to get up, but a swift Sea Dragon’s Waterball sent him tumbling away from the crystal. Taking aim at it again, she was stopped short as Fuegoleon harshly grabbed her wrist, before flinging her back away to her siblings. 

‘I’ll need to get this over with quickly, I won’t be able to deal with both her and Nozel,’ Fuegoleon thought to himself. Summoning his lion made of flames, he wrapped his crystal safely in the flames, and darted away.

“Nebra, Solid, make sure these two don’t get back up again. Noelle, let’s go.”

Swiftly following the Vermillion, Noelle wondered where he was trying to take them. No matter where, they would still be able to reach him, as without Salamander Fuegoleon couldn’t fly. This also meant they were quickly beginning to catch up to him. Just as they got into attacking range, Fuegoleon spun around, and dispelled his transportation spell.

“Any particular reason you want to lose here instead of back there?” Nozel asked. Fuegoloen had led them to a more rocky region, and they were several hundred meters away from the others now.

“I just didn’t want our fight to injure those who couldn’t defend themselves. I trust you’re prepared Noelle. I won’t hold back because you’re a child,” Fuegoleon said, momentarily diverting his attention to the younger Silva.

Noelle almost scoffed, but instead simply attacked. Launching a full power Sea Dragon’s Roar had Fuegoleon jumping back to dodge, as he was unprepared for the raw power of her attack. While he was in the air though, Nozel was not idle. Riding his mercury, he struck out with several blades of metal, which Fuegoleon barely managed to block with a fiery spiral surrounding himself. However, just as his spell ended, he was given no time to breathe, as Noelle was already in his face, trying to hit him with her water lance.

Not hesitating, he summoned a huge torrent of flames to try and throw her off, but she surrounded herself with an orb of water that completely protected her from them. Realising that level of flame wouldn’t work, he used Sol Linea. As he had thought, it pierced her water barrier, but he was surprised when she was able to move out of the way instead of taking it head on. He had aimed for her shoulder in case she couldn’t react, but Fuegoleon had to stop himself from smiling as he looked at her so effortlessly moving forward. While they had never been close, he was around enough to know Noelle struggled, and seeing her look so much like Aicer was enough to make him proud of the girl.

He was knocked out of his thoughts as a heavy blow hit him from the side. Nozel had started to opt for more large and blunt methods of attack, as his mored deadly ones were too thin, and were immediately melted by his rivals fire. 

Grunting, Fuegoleon skidded across the floor, only just managing to use a defence spell to protect him from the follow up from Nozel. Evaluating his options, Fuegoleon knew he was running out of them. While Noelle wouldn’t be too much of a problem by herself, she hit very hard even for a captain, and was fast. Nozel didn’t have the same striking power with his type disadvantage, but he was even faster, and was difficult to pin down. Right now, if he didn’t change up his strategy, he would inevitably be defeated.

Seeing Nozel firing more silver bullets at him, Fuegoleon raised a wall of fire, and used it as cover to try and find an opportunity. Seeing Noelle veer off to avoid the flames, he decided to target her. Rushing in, she barely was able to avoid a fire enhanced fist, but when she tried to counter was swiftly met with a flaming pilar which enveloped her. Knowing that wouldn’t be enough on its own, he focused on the temperature, raising it as high as he could manage. Looking in, he saw Noelle was still covering herself in a water barrier, but she seemed stuck, concentrating all her energy on maintaining it. That was good. He could use multiple spells simultaneously, and though it would still require focus, he had managed to hold Noelle for now.

Nozel couldn’t contain his annoyance at seeing Fuegoleon trapping Noelle, and he frowned in displeasure. Still riding his mercury, he tried to launch a counter attack, but this was quickly disrupted, as more and more pillars of fire kept erupting up from the ground, and soon, all Nozel could see were pillars of fire. The heat was so intense that his mercury started boiling and bubbling under his feat, as Fuegoleon tried to turn the battlefield into a field of fire, and only constantly producing new mercury was saving his skin from being scalded.

‘Still, this strategy won’t be enough to directly hit me. But that’s not what he is after. Right now, we are in a battle of stamina. If he can keep his pillars of fire active longer than I can reproduce my mercury, it’s his win. I have to be as careful as possible with my mana output,’ Nozel thought to himself, as he carefully manoeuvred himself through the pillars of flames.

Everything hurt for Noelle. She was low on mana, and just breathing was almost unbearable, the hot hair scorching her lungs. The water ball she was using for protection was boiling away, and all she could manage was an extremely small, compact orb that only just covered her. Not only that, but the powerful mana Fuegoleon was emitting was making it difficult for her to control her own mana, and if she even tried to move in her Valkyrie armour, her water shield would disappear, and she’d be enveloped. She was almost happy that Fuegoleon was taking her so seriously, but now really wasn’t the time for those kind of thoughts.

It was difficult to see what was going on, but she could sort of make out some things. The whole clearing they were in was completely on fire, and whenever she got a brief glance at Nozel, he looked like he was about ready to drop. She herself was in a similar position, but she wouldn’t let herself, not without seeing Nozel win first. 

The question Noelle kept asking herself now though, was how could she help. She was trapped, and even if she could escape, none of her spells had a wide area of effect, which would be needed if there was any hope of stopping Fuegoleon at this point. Eyes widening, Noelle realised there was something she could still try.

Closing her eyes, she ignored the pain of the flames, and tried her best to focus on her mana, extending it outwards as far as possible. Training with the Heart Kingdom gave her a solid understanding of natural mana, and how to manipulate it, but so far she had only ever drawn that mana from a very small range. However, training with Yuno over the past couple of months had given her a much better understanding, and her control over the mana in nature was better than ever. Right now, if she wanted to guarantee Nozel’s victory, she’d have to put all her training into practice.

“Mana zone,” Noelle began, letting her mana interact with all of the excess mana in nature. Twisting it around all of the flaming pillars, which she could now see in her minds eye with utmost clarity, Noelle tried her spell.

Panting, Fuegoleon looked to Nozel with satisfaction. His old rival was clearly about done, only a small platform of mercury remaining, as he desperately tried to find an escape from the fiery hell he had found himself in. He wasn’t in much better shape, feeling about ready to drop from mana exhaustion, but he knew he could hold out longer than Nozel. Right now it was only a matter of time. Just as he thought this, he was dragged out of his thoughts by the worst case scenario.

“What!” Fuegoleon couldn’t help but exclaim, as all of a sudden, his field of fire was put out in an instant, and now instead of fire, the pillars had all turned to water. Cursing, he looked over to where he had left Noelle, and as he expected, her hands were clasped, and eyes were shut, as she concentrated her magic on containing his. What was worse, his mana was still being drained, as he attempted to evaporate her water, but all he got was some hissing steam, no fire. Huffing, he released the spell.

‘I have to deal with her now!’ Fuegoleon thought, as he desperately rushed to the younger girl. Just as he got close though, another pillar of water raised from the floor, pushing him high into the sky, and away from Noelle. Despite her eyes being closed, her mana detection was never better. Fuegoleon had known this, and were it not for his panic, he would have been smarter with his attack.

Just as he attempted to launch an attack to get him out of the water, he spun around, eyes wide, just in time to see a seemingly endless amount of mercury, Nozel’s final attack, flow through the water effortlessly. The mercury quickly wrapped around him, and with the additional stifling effect from the water, there wasn’t enough heat to melt it. Just as he realised his defeat, a dull metal blade struck him in the neck, knocking him cleanly unconscious.

Sensing this, Noelle released her spell, collapsing to the floor in exhaustion. After catching her breath for a minute, she looked up, and saw her brother extending a hand to her.

“You did well, Noelle,” Nozel said. Smiling up at him, she reached out and grabbed his hand, accepting the help. Looking down, she saw Fuegoleon was restrained firmly, perhaps a tad too firm, but she didn’t comment. 

“Well, what are you waiting for, destroy the crystal,” Noelle said brightly, motioning to the crystal that was hovering behind Fuegoleon. He looked hesitant for a moment, before he nodded.

“Well of course. I just wanted you to be able to witness it. After all, without you, I would have no doubt lost today.” With that, Nozel turned to the crystal, and with an almost casual wave of his wrist, a blade of mercury extended, cleanly bisecting the rock, and with it came a loud buzz, before everyone over the Kingdom heard Julius’s voice.

“Wow what a battle! Everyone, the new Wizard King: Nozel Silva!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending may be a bit predictable, but hope the fight was well written! I had such a clear image of it in my head, hopefully it came through with the words. I was sort of close to doing a Yuno/Rill type thing where Fana's mana just broke both crystals, but in the end I went with this.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the delay of the chapter, busy holidays you know. On the plus side, this may be the longest chapter of the story so far. Unfortunately, my January is extremely busy too, and I cant promise consistent updates for now, though I can say, I have basically planned the rest of the chapters, and the story will be probably be done around chapter 35-40 give or take. Still a while to come, but just to keep you updated! Hopefully I'll be able to do one or two chapters in January, but no promises!
> 
> Also, anyone see some of those leaks for the new anime episode!? They look so good, I hope the spade arc gets done well, especially the Noelle/Vanica and Asta/Yami/Dante fights! Anyway, please let me know what you thought in the comments!


	25. Chapter 25

“Amazing! You were amazing Noelle!” Asta gushed from his seat next to Noelle’s bed, making her flush a dull red. “I thought Fuegoleon had got you with those awesome fire pillars, but you were even more awesome with those water pillars! And you used mana zone! I can’t really describe it, but your ki kind of feels different now, more steady I guess? Man I wish I could use mana so I could tell how it felt,” he ranted.

“Hmm. Even if you could use mana, there’s no way you’d be talented enough to get to mana zone,” Yuno scoffed, standing behind his rival and ignoring his indignant protest, “That being said, it was impressive Noelle, finally being able to use the technique when it mattered most. How Asta-like.”

“Heh, you just don’t know Yuno. It’s not just me or Noelle, our whole squad surpasses our limit’s when it matters most!”

“You can’t be serious,” Yuno muttered. Noelle watched, mixed with irritation and a begrudging level of fondness as the two boys bickered next to her. Really, she was tired and wanted to sleep, but she was told to stay up for a while longer on Owen’s orders.

“Geez, won’t you two ever stop. Anyway, it’s not like I’ve got it mastered or anything, so there’s still a long way to go. I just knew that I couldn’t let Nozel lose in that moment, and something seemed to click. I’m not sure if I could even do something like that again,” Noelle confessed.

“Hmm, not sure I can help you anymore with it then. I could just sort of do it once I had learned spirit dive,” Yuno commented, suppressing a smirk at the angry glares of the other two.

“Yeah we get it, you’re better than everyone at everything. Don’t rub it in anymore, jerk,”Asta complained, before looking back to Noelle, “I wouldn’t worry about it Noelle. I couldn’t use my Black form immediately after the first time I got it. Even if this guy won’t, I’ll train with you as much as you want.” Asta finished, grinning at her.

“Th-thanks, I guess,” Noelle mumbled, trying not to be too flustered by the offer. Asta looked at her confused, and Yuno merely shook his head in disgust. He could never understand what the royal girls saw in Asta. That train of thought was derailed though, as the door to Noelle’s room knocked.

“Come in,” Noelle said. As the door opened, they all looked somewhat surprised, as the now former wizard king stepped in, followed by Acier.

“Hello you three,” Julius began, “I must say, I was greatly impressed by your performance today Noelle. You really are your mothers daughter.” Noelle didn’t really know how to take such a big compliment, so she just quietly nodded.

“Unfortunately that’s not what I’ve come to discuss with you. You see, about a year ago, I noticed a rather disturbing fluctuation in my magic. As I’m sure you know, my magic is related to time, and in my life, I have never felt such a violent pull at it,” Julius began saying, pausing once he took note of the growing horror on the teens faces in front of him, as they no doubt began to catch on to where he was going, “Now, now, no need to look so shocked. You see, shortly following this disturbance, I started seeing visions about a certain future. However, this future I saw was impossible. After all, it involved three dead people.” Julius said.

“The Dark Triad,” Acier said, taking over, ”Years ago now, about a year before you were born Noelle, the Spade Kingdom requested help from our nation to try and deal with the Triad. As you know though, they were possessed by extremely powerful devils, and as such were difficult to kill, even despite a huge numbers advantage. It took months and months of tracking, and many difficult battles, however in the end we managed, I killed Vanica, Julius killed their leader Dante, and the Spade King himself killed Zenon. After that though we hadn’t heard anything from them.” Letting the silence wash over them as they absorbed what they were told, eventually Noelle asked a question.

“And these visions you’ve had… how do you know they’re not just memories?”

“Well, for one, my magic can determine the flow of time, and as such I am sure its from the future. However, what was even more peculiar was that they also involved you three. Considering a year ago, I only knew what Noelle here looked like, it seemed rather strange. But then, I hear rumours about Noelle being a genius mage despite her history of poor magic control, and then when the Spade royals visit, their son has the face of one of the boys in my visions, and then further to this, the Silva family hosts both him and a seemingly random boy of no known origin, who also had the face if someone in my visions. Around the time I hear you moved in with the Silva family Asta, my magic fluctuated again. Even now in fact, I can barely sit in front of you three without my magic going out of control.”

“So are these visions the reason you’re stepping down as Wizard King?” Yuno asked. 

“Well you see Yuno, right now I need to find as much information possible out to try and stop what I see from coming from to fruition. To do this, I’ll need to travel, and see if I find anything related to devil mana. For now, the way I can best protect this kingdom is by stepping down, and being proactive.” Following this statement, none of the three teens knew how to respond, and so after a moment Julius spoke up again.

“Anyway! For now, I’ll leave the Kingdom in your brothers capable hands, and make my own plans. I’ll be sure to keep you all informed about anything that comes up. If worst comes to worse, you three are the ones with the potential to handle this threat, even more than the current generation of captains. Right now though, I’m going to have convince a certain former squad mate of mine to come back on to our side. Asta and Noelle, I think you are quite familiar with him,” Julius said with a smile.

‘Captain Yami!’ The two former Black Bulls thought simultaneously. Before any more could be said, Julius had disappeared, just as quick as he had appeared.

“Well, I’m sorry to have to put this kind of burden on your shoulders. Really, you’re all still children. But this is the situation we’ve found ourselves in unfortunately, so from now, we’ll be training you twice as hard as anything you’ve ever done. I want all of you to be as ready as possible for anything that comes up in the future. I hope Julius can manage it on his own to be honest, if anyone can, it’s him. However, I won’t let you be unprepared. Noelle once your recovered, we’ll be back to training as much as possible. Understood?” Acier asked.

“Understood.”

True to her word, Acier was drilling them to the ground the moment Noelle could use her magic again. Time after time, she would push them to their breaking points, and then past it, but the results were tangible. Where as before, Acier used to be able to effortlessly take them apart, their levels were rapidly increasing, to the point where if Acier wasn’t careful, there was a chance she could actually get seriously hurt by one of the talented teenagers. 

Around a month after Julius had left and Nozel had ascended to Wizard King, the three young wizards were resting in the training grounds they were using, after a hard session which had them put two against one in alternating groups to try and build up there ability to fight multiple opponents and increase their stamina.

“Man Noelle, your mom is a real slave driver. Even for me this is a lot,” Asta huffed, lyong flat on his back, taking in big gulps of air.

“Yeah, how do you think this feels for normal people who don’t train all day long anyway? I think my lungs are collapsing,” Noelle complained. Yuno said nothing, though he was just as exhausted, panting loudly. Acier stood over them, and although she hid it well, she was quite tired herself, pushing well past her usual threshold. 

“Lord Yuno! Lord Yuno!” A servant shouted, jogging over to them. Yuno looked up, glaring at the man who was taking up his rest time. Shaking his head, he force himself to stand, trying to look as put together as possible.

“What is it?”

“The Wizard King has asked for your presence!” The servant replied.

“Big brother did? Strange, must be fairly important if it couldn’t just wait till this evening,” Noelle commented. Yuno nodded in agreement, and exhaled slowly as he began his way to Nozel’s office.

“Can’t be helped I suppose. Have fun with your training you two,” Yuno smirked, looking at the other two.

“What? Mom, if Yuno gets a break, surely we do as well,” Noelle begged, looking up at her mother with her most desperate look.

“Since you asked so nicely dear, I’ll only make you and Asta spar 5 rounds instead of 10,” Acier responded, smiling sweetly, prompting a groan from her daughter. 

Shaking his head, Yuno ignored the servant walking behind him, and jumped on a bird of wind, flying over to the Wizard King’s office. Once he arrived, he walked in without knocking, hoping to get a rise from Nozel. He didn’t particularly dislike the man, but it was always fun getting a rise from the stuck up royal. 

“Yuno, sit down please,” Nozel said calmly, not bothering to address the blatant disrespect. Raising an eyebrow at the unusual display of tolerance, Yuno simply nodded, sitting int he chair in front of Nozel’s desk. After sitting in silence for a while, Nozel slowly exhaled.

“Yuno, I have no way to broach the topic gently, so please forgive my bluntness. But, it is my unfortunate duty as Wizard King, and head of the Silva family keeping you as our ward, to inform you that your parents, Lord Ciel and Lady Loyce, have been murdered.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Sorry, I know I said I'd try to update in January, but I was really busy with school stuff, so hope you can forgive me! I should be able to get back to updating more regularly now though. I'm also really hyped for Black clover right now, the anime and manga are killing it, so that has me pretty motivated to right some stuff out! Also, would anyone be opposed if I maybe write some other stuff, not necessarily to do with this verse? Don't get me wrong, I love writing this story, but I've had some ideas bouncing around for a while that I think would be cool too. Of course that would slow down writing for this, but writing this one story for so long has been kind of hard, and I think it might be cool to get some fresh ideas out. Tbh I doubt I'll ever write something as long as this again, just the time for one story is kind of a lot.
> 
> Anyway, enough of that! Let me know what you thought of the chapter in the reviews, we're getting into the endgame of the story now!


	26. Chapter 26

“What do you want Julius? I can tell you’ve been lurking around the base for a few hours now. I had to make up some excuse to those idiots so I can come see you. It better be good,” Yami complained, leaning against a tree that surrounded the Black Bulls mobile fortress. 

“Come on now Yami, is that all you have to say to your old leader, even after all this time?” Julius whined pathetically, but at seeing Yami blank his response, he merely sighed.

“Well, I’m sure you will have heard by now, but I’m no longer apart of the magic knight’s myself. One of my reasons for stepping down has to do with you. Many years ago, we faced a powerful enemy who used powers granted by devils. Long story short, we defeated them, and thought we had killed them. However, now I am fairly certain they are alive again. On top of this, they’re linked to one of your squad mates, Asta,” Julius said. This gained Yami’s attention, as he looked up at the sound of his missing underling.

“As well as Asta, a girl called Noelle and a boy called Yuno are also linked. I think you met them, when you stormed the palace. You don’t need to worry about him though, he’s with good people now.”

“So, is that it? Just come to tell me that the brat is fine?”

“No, there’s more to it unfortunately. You know by now, but your magic is special Yami. Special enough in fact that it can help defeat the devil users.”

“Why do you think you need me? If you’ve already beaten them once, surely you can do it again. Besides, I have no interest in helping out the Clover Kingdom. I think its been made pretty clear that I, as well as my whole group, aren’t needed by you guys. If you expect me to just agree to help because you used to be my captain, you have another thing coming,” Yami said, almost scoffing as he turned to return to his base.

“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple, Yami. I’m afraid that if we leave these people unchecked, the consequences will extend far beyond the clover kingdom. Besides that, I’ve had a feeling that you will be key to defeating these people,” Julius said. Yami considered what he said for a moment before sighing.

“What is it you expect me to do? I can’t exactly just leave this lot here.” Julius smiled when he realised that Yami was coming around to him.

“Nothing for now. Just be vigilante, and try prepare your team for a fight. I’ll be in contact if anything comes up. For now though, I’m going to look for as much information as possible,” Julius said. Yami nodded, before promptly turning away. Julius smiled at his former subordinates attitude; he really never changed. 

It didn’t take too long for the news of the Spade King and Queen’s untimely demise to spread like wildfire. They had just visited the Clover Kingdom, and their one son was spending his time with the Silva family, so to hear about their deaths sent a wave of shock through the kingdom. 

For Noelle and Asta, they had very little idea on how to deal with the news. They didn’t know them, and despite becoming closer to Yuno, they had a hard time thinking of a way to broach the subject with him. He was kind of cold most of the time anyway, and he had taken the news of his parents death by putting on a mask of stoicism.

“They’re not really my parents anyway,” he had said when they clumsily tried to comfort him, “Right now we need to focus more on the one’s that did it. It doesn’t take a genius to know the Triad are involved.” After he had told them this, he had walked off to his room, claiming he needed to be well rested for any action they were about to take.

“He’s lying,” Asta said hesitantly.

“Obviously,” Noelle agreed,

“No, it’s not just that. I can feel his ki you know. Right now Yuno is angrier than I’ve ever seen him. It can’t be good to just pretend everything is alright, like nothing has happened, right?”

Noelle hesitated to reply. While he was clearly right about it being a bad thing to bottle up your negative emotions like Yuno was clearly doing, there was also the case to be made that Yuno was right about needing to focus on the bigger picture. If his parents had been murdered by the dark triad again, then there was no time to waste trying to put Yuno through some emotional counselling.

“I think that Yuno has his own way to deal with these things,” Noelle said slowly, “and right now he probably doesn’t know what to do, and so if focusing on fighting is what’s keeping him grounded, it may be better to just let him do it his way, rather than bring all of those negative emotions to the forefront. We don’t know how much time we have now, so for him to compartmentalise his feelings might be what’s best for now.” Noelle could tell Asta wasn’t really happy with her answers and probably wanted to just deal with it now.

“You know Yuno better than anyone right?” At his slow nod, Noelle continued, “In that case, you know that he’s not the type of guy to be overly emotional anyway. Besides, Yuno’s a resilient guy. If anything this is just going to drive him to be more focused for when we come up against them.”

“I guess you’re right. It still doesn’t feel good though, just leaving Yuno alone to deal with this,” Asia said sadly.

“Well, that was just as boring as it was the first time around,” Vanica drawled, lazily trailing a finger over the table she had draped herself over. Zenon looked at her with disinterest.

“Why should it be exciting? The job is done, we’ve claimed the kingdom for ourselves. Now we can resume our plans, even if it is not under the ideal circumstances.”

“You’re so boring Zenon. We spent a whole year regathering our strength and finding out more about this world. Don’t you wish there was at least some challenge,” Vanica said, childishly sticking out her tongue to her younger brother. Before Zenon could respond though, Dante interjected.

“Now, now. Vanica, we moved preemptively because of your impatience, for our plan to have gone off without a hitch we would have needed to locate Yami Sukehiro,” Dante scolded lightly. Vanica pouted, but didn’t comment further. “Though, we had no luck in finding him anyway, so perhaps making a more bold action will lead to him making an appearance. Regardless, there will surely be much more opposition from the Clover Kingdom this time around. In that case we must be prepared. Last time, our plans were figured out by a spy infiltrating the castle. This time, we must move efficiently. Zenon, with your spacial magic, you can set a perimeter, correct?”

“Ah, it’s already done.”

“Excellent, in that case-“

“Dante, Vanica. It seems a rat has made its way into the castle,” Zenon said, cutting off his older sibling. “This magic power… they’re strong.” Dante seemed a bit surprised, while Vanica merely grinned savagely.

“Oh, that was sooner than expected. It’s only been a couple of days since we took over the kingdom. I wonder who would be foolish enough to venture here.

“Please, please, please! Zenon, send me! I promise I won’t even play around,” Vanica begged, clinging to Zenon pleadingly.

“Their power isn’t something to be played with. We shall all go now.” With that, Zenon opened a portal, quickly walking through himself. Vanica sulked, but followed anyway, while Dante strolled through without a care in the world. No one individual could defeat the three of them together.

Appearing in one of the lower hallways of the castle, the man in front of them paused at the appearance of the spatial magic in front of him. At the sight of him, Dante couldn’t help but smirk.

“My, my. To think, one of the main players has already arrived in front of us. Truly, Julius Novachrono, it will be an honour to kill you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter was a bit all over the place, but hey ho, we move on to the next one, which will hopefully be more structured lol. Anyway, not much to say, just sad about the anime news rip. and for those wondering about an update schedule, I think I'm going to go to 1 chapter a week at least, probably on the weekend, but we'll see if I can get any more done.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, and leave a comment on the way out to tell me what you think!


	27. Chapter 27

“Wow, I must say, you were quick to find me!” Julius praised, “You must have improved a lot since the last time we had met.” Despite his external confidence though, internally he was panicking slightly. He hadn’t anticipated being caught this soon, really he had hoped to avoid it at all, but being realistic he had known he would have at least had to deal with one of the triad at least. All three was really bad, even for him.

“Improved? So that means we have fought before then-“ Dante began, before being cut off.

“Who cares about that boring stuff!” Vanica screamed, drawing on 60% of her devils power, “Let me just kill this guy right now!”

With that, Vanica shot forward, aiming a blood claw for Julius’s head. To non of their surprise he easily dodged, his time magic letting him anticipate the blow. Trying to counter, Julius reappeared right in Vanica’s face hoping to take her down with one shot, aiming a beam of time magic for her heart.

To Julius’s surprise though, the moment it impacted her body, the pale blue of his time magic turned a vile red, as it was corrupted by her devil’s magic. 

“To bad for you, even arcane magic like yours is ineffective against my devils power,” Vanica grinned, having used her decaying world spell to disintegrate Julius’s attack. 

Once again, Vanica leaped forward to try and take out Julius, and he was prepared to dodge again, but just as he was about to escape, his eyes widened in shock. Jumping back, he wasn’t able to completely avoid the attack this time, as several think, long cuts opened up on his chest.

‘What is this? My magic… I can’t use it?” Julius thought desperately, wondering why his time magic had failed him and he couldn’t anticipate the fairly straightforward attack.

“Hey Zenon, don’t interfere. This is my fight,” Vanica complained. Zenon didn’t say anything, but also didn’t revert back to his human form, as he casually stood in his devil form, with his hands in his pockets.

‘So it’s him then? He must have some kind of ability to disrupt magic.’

Just as he thought this, he grunted in surprise, as he was forced to his knees by an invisible pressure from above.

“Ugh, come on this was meant to be fun,” Vanica complained, before, turning away, her devil form disappearing as she walked off childishly. 

“Sorry Vanica, but this here is too good an opportunity to pass up. We have to make the most of this.”

‘This is Dante’s gravity magic. Before I was able to resist it, but with that other man disrupting my mana, I can’t properly defend against it. This is quite the predicament,’ Julius thought, smiling wryly.

“Now, Julius Novachrono. Let’s talk a bit,” Dante said, pressing a foot onto Julius’s shoulder, increasing the gravity. 

“Tell me, where is Yami Sukehiro.”

“Now, Liebe!” Asta screamed.

‘Right!’ Liebe responded, before concentrating, intently.

Noelle looked up at the spar that was going on. Over the past few weeks now, Yuno had been closing himself off, but all of a sudden he demanded a spar with Asta.

At the start, they went at it like normal, maybe with Yuno being a but more aggressive than usual, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary. It started getting crazy however when Yuno used his spirit dive. It seemed he had been using his time in isolation productively, as when Bell appeared, Noelle instantly knew something was up. Her magic was practically radiating, the normally lackadaisical spirit suddenly brimming with power.

Then Yuno combined with her, and it was like he was completely on another level to before. Instead of the usual spirit dive which only covered half of his body, this time the green glow covered his whole frame, and his crown was full. As well as that, it seemed he had a knew weapon of choice as well, because instead of the usual sword, he now had a halberd.

Instantly she could see the difference. Asta, who was normally more than a match for Yuno in his black form, was suddenly being beaten from pillar to post. He couldn’t even track Yuno with his ki. With her mana zone, Noelle was having a slightly more successful time of it, since he seemed to be using the natural mana exponentially increase his power, and out of all of them, Noelle was probably the most in tune with natural mana.

She had thought that was going to be it, as Asta didn't seem to have any answers for Yuno this time, but after about a minute of taking a sustained beating, Asta closed his eyes, and seemingly focused. All of a sudden, there was a weirdly oppressive feeling in the air, as anti-magic flared up around Asta. 

After a moment, Asta seemingly glowed with the build up of anti-magic, as all of a sudden, his black form transformed into something else entirely. HIs full body was seemingly covered by black and red armour, and both sides of his body had devil markings, as well as having two wings.

"Yes! We finally got it Liebe!" Asta screamed in excitement. Just as he did however, it looked like there was a black and red electric shock, as just as quickly as he had changed into his armour, he was broken out of it, and he landed on his but, falling out of the sky without the anti-magic to prop him up.

"Ow, ow, ow," Asta said rubbing his back. Yuno and Noelle both ran over to him, Yuno's own new form seemingly vanishing as he landed next to his rival.

"What in earth was that, Asta?" Yuno asked.

"Ahaha, well it's sort of like what you do with the wind spirit, but I do it with my devil. We assimilate into each other, and we get a pretty big kick up in power. It's cool right?" Seeing the deadpan expressions from his two friends, Asta sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"But yeah, for it to work, we have to be super focused and in synch for it to work, and even then the time we can do it together is pretty short. This was the first time I'd been able to use it since I got back here. But when we use it, it's hard to beat."

"No kidding. Just being close to you felt like my magic was getting drained," Noelle confessed, "Though I'd like to see how it would fair against natural mana. When ever you sparred with Gaja, you're anti-magic was pretty ineffective right?" Noelle asked.

"Yeah, thats true. If it's the real element, my anti-magic isn't as effective. That's probably why Yuno was always able to fight me, even if anti-magic should technically cut through his magic. I think the wind spirit just naturally draws on the mana from the wind for power, so that probably helps boost resistance against my anti-magic."

"Anyway, I have to get better at controlling it. Even just a little surprise was enough to knock me out of it."

"You three, come here!" Solid yelled.

"Wonder what he wants," Yuno muttered. Despite Solid not being as bad as he once was, there was still no chance of friendship between him and the Silva family wards.

"Nozel has asked you to his office. Don't know why, so don't ask," Solid said, before walking off.

"I see your brother is in a good mood," Yuno said sharply. There was no need for the others to ask about why Yuno had suddenly tensed up; the last time Nozel had asked for him, he recieved news of his parents death.

Making their way over quickly, they only stopped to knock on the door. Once they were given permission to enter, they quickly strode in, all of them feeling more tense than usual.

Once they got in, they all stiffened in surprise as they looked upon the other people residing in the room.

"Wizard King, you're little again!" Asta yelled. While Noelle and Yuno were more subtle about it, they were just as shocked to see the shrunken version of the man.

"Ahaha, what do you mean by again, Asta? Actually, don't answer that," Julius said casually, his voice now a lot higher than before.

"Wizard King, does this mean..." Noelle trailed off. The way that Julius had regressed before was well known to the three of them.

"Yep! I died. It was pretty scary for a while, but here I am."

"How did this happen," Yuno asked tensely. He really wasn't in the mood for Julius's typical attitude.

"Well allow me to explain that," a new voice suddenly said from behind. All three of the teens looked behind sharply as a man emerged from the shadows.

"Vice-captain!" Asta burst out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter was a bit messed up because my laptop glitched, either way hope it was good, really wanted to include Asta's union!
> 
> Anyway, please leave a comment if you liked it!


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